Image Credit: CFJC Today / Kent Simmonds

By Jill Sperling

MULTIPLE FIRES

Concerns rising over series of fires on Tk’emlups Reserve

Apr 12, 2021 | 4:15 PM

TK’EMLUPS — Smoke billowing from the Tk’emlups Reserve has become a familiar sight in recent days.

Kamloops Fire Rescue and crews from Tk’emlups te Secwepemc were battling the latest in a series of blazes Monday morning (April 12).

“Shortly after 4:00 in the morning, crews were called out for what appeared to be a slash pile that was on fire,” said KFR Assistant Fire Chief Ryan Cail. “When crews arrived on scene they found a rather large approximately 100-by-100-foot pile of mixed debris that was burning pretty deep into the soil. It took quite a bit of resources and water and time allocated to try and get it out.”

The fire is near Kootenay Way. Fire crews created a guard, hoping to keep it contained if the wind were to pick up.

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This fire follows several others in recent days.

“There was one late afternoon yesterday (April 11) as well around 5:00 in the afternoon, came in as a grass fire as well and then two more last night throughout the night,” Cail said.

A brush fire also popped up last Wednesday off Chilcotin Road. Tk’emlups Councillor Thomas Blank says he thinks these fires are all connected.

“There hasn’t been any lightning, there hasn’t been any other reason for these fires to be burning,” Blank said, “but it’s certainly concerning that somebody’s intentionally setting these fires.”

Blank notes RCMP and security have been doing more patrols of the area and says the community needs to be on the lookout for suspicious activity.

“Monitor those people that are in our community that don’t belong here — they don’t live here,” he said. “Report that to the RCMP and watch out for your neighbours. This could have very quickly been very dangerous for our community and it’s still a risk the way it is currently.”

Cail says it’s too early to speculate whether the fires have been deliberately set, but he says they are certainly dangerous.

“Even as nice as this guard is,” he said of the fire off of Kootenay Way, “if the wind came up it wouldn’t do much. It’s so close to the fire that it doesn’t take much to get some hot embers up and over and then we’ve got little hot spots.”

Dry weather and warmer temperatures are an additional cause for concern with these recent fires.