Burning house sparks forest fire, prompts evacuations near Clinton, B.C.

VANCOUVER – Forestry crews in B.C.’s Interior expect to be out at first light, hoping to get a better look at a wildfire west of Kamloops that scorched one square kilometre of bush within hours.

The blaze was sparked Tuesday by a housefire in the Big Bar Creek area, about 40 kilometres west of Clinton, in the Cariboo region.

As the home burned, flames raced through parched brush, damaging another structure and forcing the tactical evacuation of 15 homes and about 40 residents.

Liz Cornwell with the Thompson-Nicola Regional District Emergency Operations Centre says the evacuated homes aren’t in immediate danger but the fire is burning along a road, complicating travel in the area and prompting the order to get out.

Residents who left their properties were asked to gather at a community hall in Clinton.

Forty-two firefighters had been assigned to the uncontained blaze by Tuesday evening and were working to build guards with the help of air tankers, two helicopters and several pieces of heavy equipment. (The Canadian Press, CHNL)