Someone lit a fire at Knox Mountain park in Kelowna Thursday and it wasn’t the first time. While cases like this are disturbing and alarming, there are several reasons why the park is still in good shape.

The fire in Knox Mountain park yesterday afternoon, Aug. 20, is still under investigation and it came shortly after Robert Austin Teal received additional jail time for lighting a wildfire in the same park in October 2025.

Police arrested the suspect in connection to yesterday’s fire, making him the latest arrest in a series of Okanagan arsonists.

In 2023, police investigated another suspected human caused fire on Knox Mountain over the Canada Day weekend that burned 6.5 hectares of parkland. Another Knox Mountain fire back in 2017 was also determined to be arson.

Kelowna Fire Department’s assistant chief Dennis Craig said vigilant members of the public along with diligent FireSmart efforts in the park prevented these fires from being far worse.

“The public was very quick to report that fire yesterday at the first signs of smoke. That makes a big difference for us to keep the fire small,” he said.

The park has spaced out trees, trails that serve as natural fuel breaks and terrain that’s familiar to firefighters and first responders. As well regular prescribed burns have reduced the build up of fire fuels.

“We know where our access points are. We know the trail network very well… our crews are very familiar with the area, so they know what they need to get access in Knox Mountain Park, whether it be for a mountain bike rescue, an injured hiker or a fire,” he said.

He said the response to Thursday’s fire was aggressive, just as it was to the arson case last year, especially since this year’s drought has made fire conditions so volatile.

“We don’t remain complacent. We monitor the weather very closely… we had a wind event when that fire started and we rolled our bush trucks, our tenders, long before the first crews even arrived on scene,” he said.

“Given the time of year, how receptive our fuels are right now to fire, we don’t take any chances.”

He said it’s fortunate there weren’t any ember transfers from the fire yesterday and it’s a reminder for people to keep their eyes out for smoke and support FireSmart efforts.

Kelowna RCMP did not respond to an interview request regarding the investigation into the fire.