West Kelowna Fire Rescue responding to wildfire outside city limits

West Kelowna Fire Rescue says its crews are responding to a wildfire in the hills above the city, in an area that’s difficult to access.

According to the fire department, the fire is burning around eight kilometres up Bartley Forestry Road, and is sized at 1.1 hectares in size, up from 0.6 of a hectare earlier in the day. No structures are currently being threatened.

“The fire is located outside the city’s fire protection district,” said WKFR, adding that BC Wildfire currently has crews on the scene.

“Please note that with a very dry and warm fall, the fire danger is still high,” added the fire department. “Please ensure all fires are completely extinguished and care is taken in the backcountry.”

BCWS information officer Melanie Bibeau says what caused the fire is currently unknown, but that it’s featuring Rank 2 and 3 fire behaviour. That translates into organized and unorganized flame fronts with a slow to moderate rate of spread.

Two BCWS attack crews are on scene, along with a response officer, plus two helicopters.

1:58 B.C. wildfires burning in the province late into the fall