Kamloops firefighters are keeping a close eye on homeless encampments after a campfire got out of control and burned up a hillside in the city.

The City of Kamloops hasn't been strongly enforcing its policy to keep the temporary camps from becoming entrenched in open spaces and along riverbanks, but Kamloops Fire Rescue is working with the the bylaw department to keep track of where they area.

"We are working with community services (formerly the bylaw department) about making sure we know where people are and what we think is at risk and making sure we're trying to mitigate any of those areas where we think there is potential risk," fire chief Ken Uzeloc said.

He said the city was aware of those camps and community service officers were periodically checking on them. He said they had been trying to move them out of the grassy, sagebrush-covered hillside before the April 19 fire that put nearby homes at risk and took out power lines.

The city's goal, so far, has been to connect people with shelter or housing rather than forcing them to move their tents and belongings. Recently, firefighters have been responding to an increasing number of campfires, while bylaw officers have been seizing propane tanks from camps.

As the weather warms and the fuel dries up, Uzeloc said there's a high risk of small fires growing out of control.

"Obviously things are very dry. Until we get a good run of precipitation that's going to continue, so I am concerned about any type of activities that are going to have potential to lead to a wildfire or an interface fire," he said.

City begins tracking Kamloops homeless camps after out-of-control grass fire | iNFOnews.ca — A second small encampment was untouched west of the fire and just above the burned area. Levi Landry

Kamloops RCMP are investigating a campfire that spread into a massive hillside fire in the city's West End yesterday, but there's no indication it was intentional.

Police say they are still investigating the April 19 fire as an arson, however, because of the reckless nature of the blaze, which threatened homes and damaged both electrical utilities and street lights.

“The origin of the fire has been established as a campfire and we’re now conducting a criminal investigation," Supt. Jeff Pelley said in a news release yesterday afternoon.

There were remnants of a camp within the burned area below St. Paul Street West and another still intact up the hill outside of the burned area the following morning.

The West End fire came after a string of other fires across the city that appeared to be intentional. Neither Kamloops RCMP nor the fire chief said they believe there's an arsonist in the city, but they don't believe the string of suspicious fires were an accident either.

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"Suspicious is the term we use when we don't believe it was accidentally caused," chief Uzeloc said. "If that's the case, there very well could be somebody that's doing it. Whether they're doing it deliberately or not, that will have to come out in the investigation the RCMP does, but we have identified a number of fires that are suspicious."

There's been more than six suspicious fires in Kamloops since April 7, according to Kamloops RCMP.

It's not clear whether the police have identified any suspects in connection to yesterday's grassfire or the other suspicious fires this month.

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