Keremeos wildfire leaves two homeless

PENTICTON – A human-caused wildfire west of Keremeos has left two people homeless.

The grass fire broke out at about 8:30 a.m. this morning, Aug. 8, along Highway 3 about eight kilometres west of Keremeos, according to Keremeos fire chief Jordy Bosscha.

Bosscha says a mobile home, a number of outbuildings and numerous farm implements burned in the fire, displacing two people who lived in the trailer, he says. No one was hurt.

B.C. Wildfire information officer Kelsey Winter says the fire grew to about 1.5 hectares before crews got it under control. Conditions were hot and windy at the time.

She says air tankers were originally requested, but deemed not necessary.

The cause of the blaze is under investigation, but Winter says it was human-caused. A three-person initial attack crew supported the Keremeos firefighters, along with crews from Kaleden and Hedley.

The grass fire shut down Highway 3 in both directions until about 2:30 p.m., when it fully reopened to traffic, Drive B.C. says.

Firefighters remained on scene late this afternoon as the fire continued to burn in a stand of large cottonwood trees. Crews were awaiting the arrival of an excavator to deal with the trees.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Steve Arstad at sarstad@infonews.ca or call 250-488-3065. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.