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Fire
Grass fire burning near Vernon landfill
VERNON - Emergency crews are descending upon a new grass fire in Vernon. The fire was reported just before 5 p.m. today, July 23 on Birnie Road, near the landfill, and is an estimated two hectares in size. The Vernon Fire Department is at the scene and has requested back up from B.C. Wildfire. Fire...
Bolean Lake wildfire near Falkland holding at 348 hectares
FALKLAND - There was no growth in the Bolean Lake wildfire near Falkland overnight, and crews hope to establish some level of containment around the blaze today. Together, the two fires making up the blaze five kilometres northwest of Falkland in the Bolean Lake area remain at an estimated 348 hectares in size as of Thursday, July...
Crews tackling three wildfires of note near Kamloops
KAMLOOPS - Three fires of note in the Kamloops Fire Zone are in various stages following recent suppression activities by fire crews. The Coldstream Creek fire between Ashcroft and Logan Lake is 250 hectares in size. Fire information officer Kelsey Winter says crews managed to block structures threatened by the fire near Highway 97C. The...
UPDATE: Bolean Lake wildfire near Falkland flares up
FALKLAND - After seeing no growth Tuesday night, the Bolean Lake wildfire near Falkland expanded in size Wednesday. B.C. Wildfire estimates the blaze, located five kilometers northwest of Falkland, is now 348 hectares as of 2:18 p.m. on Wednesday, July 22. The fire was a reported 250 hectares earlier in the day and showing a...
Coldstream Creek fire near Ashcroft mapped at 250 hectares
ASHCROFT - A lightning-caused wildfire between Ashcroft and Logan Lake has been mapped at 250 hectares while residents at 28 properties nearby are under evacuation alert. Kayla Pepper, a fire information officer with B.C. Wildfire, says the fire west of Coldstream Creek was estimated at 600 ha last night July 20 but once crews mapped the...
UPDATE: Evacuation order issued for aggressive wildfire near Falkland
FALKLAND - An aggressive wildfire in the Bolean Lake area of Falkland has prompted an evacuation order. The blaze, which was reported to B.C. Wildfire about 2 p.m. Monday, July 20, quickly grew to an estimated 300 hectares in size up from four hectares earlier in the day. B.C. Wildfire reported Tuesday morning the blaze...
UPDATE: Coldstream Creek fire near Ashcroft grows, evacuation alert issued
ASHCROFT - B.C. Wildfire crews are battling an aggressive lightning-caused wildfire south of Ashcroft today and locals are now on evacuation alert. The fire was called in around 1 p.m. this afternoon, July 20, and quickly grew to 120 hectares. By 6 p.m. the fire had grown to 600 ha. Properties on North Road, Landon...
Grass fire sparked north of Vernon
SPALLUMCHEEN - Emergency crews weren’t taking any chances with a small grass fire just north of Vernon beside Highway 97. Fire information officer Kelsey Winter says B.C. Wildfire crews were on the ground alongside firefighters from the Armstrong Spallumcheen Fire Department in an area roughly 15 kilometres north of Vernon near Gurney Creek. The fire,...
Be fire safe, not sorry, when you use your tools and toys in the bush
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - If you plan on being a lumberjack or ripping around on your ATV in the bush this weekend, B.C. Wildfire Management is asking you to take into account the fire risk before firing up a chainsaw or starting up the quad. “If members of the public or industry personnel plan to do any...
Toss a butt out the window in Vernon and you could receive a fine
VERNON - Watch your butts, smokers. If you’re caught throwing a cigarette butt out the window, Vernon RCMP say you could face fines. It starts with $81 for depositing litter or an injurious item, and could go up another $173 for violating the Wildfire Act, RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk says. “Especially when things are so...
Future unknown for Vernon property wrecked by massive fire
VERNON - A burned out lot in the City of Vernon where government offices and a podiatry clinic used to be, could be sitting empty for a while. The building was destroyed in a massive fire June 30, displacing workers at the Ministry of Social Development workers and the podiatry clinic, North Okanagan Foot and...
Trailer park fire hydrants not up to snuff
KAMLOOPS - Nothing has changed in the Iron Mask Trailer Park since a fire claimed one mobile home on June 1, and it appears nothing will change. The home remains charred with its windows boarded up and various items strewn in front of it. A fire hydrant sits 30 feet away, but water pressure to...
In Kamloops, tossing a cigarette butt will cost you
KAMLOOPS - Fair warning, smokers: If you discard your cigarette out the window, expect a ticket. Kamloops RCMP Const. Jason Epp says police got about a dozen calls about people discarding their cigarettes. So far, four have already been ticketed; more are on the way. Rain over the weekend lowered the fire danger rating in the...
Officials suspect Molotov cocktail used in Lumby fire
LUMBY - Police believe a Molotov cocktail is to blame for a small, yet potentially serious, fire in Lumby. Firefighters were called to a residential road in Lumby around 10 p.m. Tuesday, July 7, for a report of a grass fire. While the fire was small and did no real damage to the property, officials...
Residents of burned out Sahali apartments might not return for months
KAMLOOPS - The cause of a fire that left one unit uninhabitable at an apartment building on Whiteshield Crescent South remains unknown, but an assistant fire chief says it’s ‘remarkable’ they were able to save the building given its construction. “It’s low end (damage) compared to what it could have been,” Dave McMahon of Kamloops...
Cause of Kamloops apartment fire unknown
KAMLOOPS - A fire that ripped through a Sahali apartment building Sunday is still under investigation. Investigators with Kamloops Fire Rescue are working to determine the cause of a fire at 44 Whiteshield Cres. Dispatch received the call around 6:30 a.m. yesterday, July 5, to attend the Woodlane Manor apartment complex. Firefighters evacuated all residents...
Fire burning near Ashcroft among several new ones in Kamloops Fire Centre
ASHCROFT - Crews are currently on scene of a wildfire that quickly grew to 20 hectares in Venables Valley along Highway 1. Kayla Pepper of B.C. Wildfire says it started this morning and is burning in grass and sage on the west side of Highway 1 southwest of Ashcroft. Early on the fire was more...
HELSTON: One tiny, burning ember can do a lot of damage
All of us were reminded this week how destructive fire can be, in so many different ways. On Tuesday night, we saw how fire can take down a building in mere hours, leaving nothing but ash and rubble. It’s awe-inspiring in the most horrific way. But the physical damage is just the beginning. When Vernon’s...
Emergency crews responding to large fire downtown Vernon
VERNON - A large fire is burning near Vernon’s Village Green Mall. Reports say the fire broke out at the Vernon social assistance office on 48 Avenue, behind the Petro Canada gas station. A tower of smoke can be seen from across the city. Emergency crews are at the scene working to contain the blaze....
RCMP following up on torched SUV left on Spallumcheen road
SPALLUMCHEEN - Police are investigating after a vehicle was set on fire just outside of Vernon yesterday. RCMP Const. Jocelyn Noseworthy says officers were called out around 11:30 a.m. Monday, June 29, to Highway 97 near L&A Crossroad in Spallumcheen where a vehicle had been set on fire. “The vehicle was a Lincoln SUV that...
Suspicious dumpster fire outside Vernon high school under investigation
VERNON - A suspicious fire which started in a dumpster outside a Vernon high school is under investigation The fire department was called to Vernon Secondary School to put out the fire about 11:15 p.m., Friday, June 26. “It appeared to be suspicious in nature from what we’ve come across,” deputy fire chief Jack Blair...
Fire along Schubert Drive causes intense blaze
KAMLOOPS – A fire along the Rivers Trail last night, June 28, engulfed the bush along the river and took 12 firefighters about two hours to extinguish the blaze. Deputy Fire Chief Mike Adams says dispatch received a call around 10 p.m. of a fire near Schubert Drive and Windsor Avenue and crews from the...
Fire at North Shore fourplex still under investigation
KAMLOOPS - A fire ripped through a house and garage on Selkirk Avenue yesterday and while investigators are still trying to determine what happened, the assistant fire chief is saying it's too early to call it suspicious. Members of Kamloops Fire Rescue were called to a fire at a fourplex house on Selkirk Avenue yesterday,...
Careless use of flare guns believed to have sparked Kal Park blaze
VERNON - A fire in Kalamalka Lake Provincial Park Tuesday night is believed to have been caused by reckless behaviour. Coldstream fire chief Dave Sturgeon says crews responded to a small, one-metre by one-metre grass fire in the Rattlesnake Point area of Kal Park around 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 23. By the time firefighters arrived,...