Wildfires and wild weather keep Penticton fire crews busy

PENTICTON – Monday was a busy day for the Penticton Fire Department as they responded to three wildfires and numerous direct alarms.

The department responded to a second grass fire in a week near Commercial Way in the city’s industrial area around 1:30 p.m. yesterday, June 27, deputy chief Dave Spalding says.

“That’s an area where transients are known to move in and out of,” Spalding says, noting the fire was likely the result of cooking.

After last night’s thunderstorm, the department also responded to 13 calls in a relatively short time frame, including one due to a lightning strike south of town, which was out of the city's jurisdiction, and another to a lightning strike near Sutherland Road which kept firefighters busy for a half hour.

The B.C. Wildfire Service reports three fires were started in the Penticton area as a result of last night’s storm.

“We had lots of direct alarms from buildings as a result of the storm as well,” Spalding says.

The fire department also responded to an unauthorized burning in the Wiltse area, where a number of youth were gathered for a grad celebration. Police also attended that blaze, where Cpl. Don Wrigglesworth says roughly a dozen youth were celebrating and burning pallets. The gathering was disbursed without incident.

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