Image Credit: Global Okanagan / Michael Eso

By Global News / Simon Little

RICHTER CREEK WILDFIRE

New 15-hectare wildfire breaks out just west of Osoyoos as province’s fire danger rating climbs

May 13, 2019 | 3:58 PM

The BC Wildfire Service has been called to the south Okanagan, where a new wildfire has broken out near Osoyoos.

The fire is burning about 12 kilometres west of the lakeside community near Highway 3, and was about 15 hectares Monday afternoon, according to the service.

No structures were immediately threatened by the fire, but the smoke was visible from both the highway and from Osoyoos, the wildfire service said.

The fire is classified as “out of control,” and officials describe it as an aggressive surface fire which is moving quickly.

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The fire is suspected to be human-caused.

The BC Wildfire Service said it has 28 personnel on site, and two helicopters have been deployed.

DriveBC said the fire was not causing any impacts to traffic on the highway.

The BC Wildfire Service also had 18 firefighters in the Kamloops area Monday, where the 19-hectare Buse Creek wildfire broke out on Sunday.

A passing CN Rail train is being investigated as a possible cause of that fire.

Jenna Ormondy, incident commander for the fire, said at one point the flames made it within 100 metres of a home.

“The winds were definitely in our favour yesterday,” she said.

“So the fire was moving east away from the home which definitely helped with our efforts.”

Crews battling the 236-hectare Lejac wildfire near Fraser Lake also made progress overnight, with the fire now 50 per cent contained and 70 per cent guarded on Monday.

A local state of emergency and evacuation order for that fire were lifted, but some residents in the area remained under an evacuation alert.

About 40 firefighters and a helicopter have been deployed to try and extinguish it.

The fire comes with nearly half of the province under a “high” or “extreme” fire danger rating.

The northwest, south coast and central B.C., along with patches of the southeast are currently facing the highest risk.