BC Wildfire Service urging caution as temperatures rise in Kamloops

“We saw the fire in the distance as we were driving by but we were able to stay with friends in Hinton for the night and then we made it down to beautiful Kamloops. We are thankful to be here,” said Gail McComb.

The family is staying in the Kamloops area with extended family. While the evacuation order has now been rescinded, an alert is still effect for their home.

“My middle daughter has some breathing challenges. She doesn’t have asthma but it’s bad enough, we don’t want her around any smoke, so we are just staying where it’s nice and clean and fresh,” added McComb.

While Alberta as well as fire centers in B.C. such as Cariboo and Prince George have enacted Category 2 and 3 open fire bans, the Kamloops Centre has yet to put a ban in place.

“At this time, we have no prohibitions in effect for Category 2 or 3 or campfires. That is something we continually monitor and evaluate with all of our fire zones across the region, especially when we have warmer temperatures like this,” said BCWS Fire Information Officer Aydan Coray.

That’s left some local authorities to make the proactive step themselves. North of Kamloops in Barriere, a full campfire ban will take effect on Monday (May 15).

“We have always been proactive in the District of Barriere and our municipal fire protection area. In most cases, we put the fire bans on before the government puts their bans on just because we are in the valley bottom, it’s dry. We just don’t want to have a situation where a fire gets out of control,” stated Barriere Mayor Ward Stamer.

With temperatures expected to be north of 30 degrees Celsius this weekend, people are being warned to be fire-smart as they enjoy the backcountry.

“Oh, very important and this community has been through fires before so I hope that people would know to be cautious,” said McComb. “But, I will tell you I was never more thankful for rain than when I drove down here on Saturday.”

Since the start of April there have 25 fires in the Kamloops region. Eighty per cent have been human caused.

by Michael Reeve

BC Wildfire Service urging caution as temperatures rise in Kamloops

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