File Photo (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By James Peters

Wildfires

Napier Lake fire being held at 65ha; ‘flashy fuels’ drying out across Kamloops region

Mar 31, 2023 | 11:37 AM

KAMLOOPS — The interval between snow melt and an increase in valley-bottom wildfire activity in the Kamloops area has been very short.

Fire Information Officer Nicole Bonnett says a blaze that popped up in the Napier Lake area Thursday (March 30) spread quickly but is now being held at 65 hectares.

“By the end of the day yesterday, the crews that were working out there had updated the stage of control to ‘Being Held’ and the size is still sitting at 65 hectares,” Bonnett told CFJC Today. “We’ve got another four-person [initial attack] crew that’s back out on site today patrolling.”

An investigation team is working to determine the cause of the fire. Bonnett says it doesn’t appear any structures were threatened.

“The fuel type out there is predominantly grass fuel and I believe it’s on a slope,” she said. “Grass is what we consider a flashy fuel. That means it burns faster but not with the same level of intensity. That in combination with the slope, the conditions align for the fire to grow in a little bit more of a quicker manner.”

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The Napier Lake blaze is the largest in a series of spot starts that have popped up in the last two weeks of March.

Bonnett says drought conditions that set in last fall persist in the spring before warmer weather and precipitation lead to green-up.

“Once we get a little bit more precipitation throughout the region and we start getting a little bit more moisture content back into the ground and the fuels start to green up a little more, that should kind of reduce the hazard a little bit,” said Bonnett. “Until that point, it’s definitely quite dry out there and we’re seeing that fuels are still quite susceptible to burning.”

Meantime, many rural property owners may take this time to use fire to clear their land of slash and debris.

Even though there are no burn prohibitions in place, property owners should take several precautions before igniting.

“Make sure you’ve got your burn registration number. Have an established fuel break around the area that you’re burning — whether that’s a pile or a piece of a field or something. Make sure somebody’s always monitoring the fire so that it doesn’t spread beyond its intended size and that you’ve got all the adequate tools and water on site,” said Bonnett.

For information on open burning and obtaining a burn registration number, visit this website.