Aerial mapping updates sizes of Adams Lake wildfires

Two wildfires in B.C.’s Shuswap region are larger in size after new aerial mapping.

The Lower East Adams Lake blaze, located around 21 kilometres north of Chase, is now at 6,505 hectares, up from its last estimate of 4,823 hectares.

Across Adams Lake, the Bush Creek East wildfire grew to 3,061 hectares, up from 1,789 hectares.

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BC Wildfire says the new mapping occurred late Wednesday evening, when conditions cleared.

“It’s not necessarily that we’ve seen new growth overnight,” Shaelee Stears of BC Wildfire said. “It’s just when we’ve been able to get a new track on the fire.

“Visibility definitely hinders that in getting the perimeter (sized). But we were able to get an updated perimeter and updated sizing.”

Both wildfires are considered out of control, with each having a suspected cause of lightning. Evacuation alerts and orders have also been issued for both.

On Thursday, the Columbia Shuswap Regional District said the region also received four to six millimetres of rain, which dampened some of the fire’s behaviour.

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It’s a welcomed respite, but BCWS says it wasn’t enough to make a long-lasting impact on the fire, “but it can help day-to-day operations when we see that slight increase in precipitation.”

The regional district added that “the weather is forecast to move back into a very hot, dry pattern, which may increase fire activity.”