Image Credit: Facebook/Chu Chua Volunteer Fire Dept.

By Adam Donnelly

WILDFIRE SEASON 2024

More than a dozen new fires emerge throughout Kamloops Fire Centre Monday

Jul 22, 2024 | 6:00 PM

KAMLOOPS — As of Monday afternoon (July 22), 46 active wildfires are burning throughout the Kamloops Fire Centre (KFC).

“Twelve of these wildfires were detected since last night in the Kamloops Fire Zone,” KFC Fire Information Officer Aydan Coray tells CFJC Today. “Most of them are suspected to be lightning-caused due to the thunder cell we had move through the region.”

While many of those fires are visible to residents throughout the region, they’re not burning close enough to homes or communities to cause any concern, at this time.

“No evacuation orders or alerts as a result of the new starts last night,” Coray explains. “Some of them are burning where it’s quite visible to folks in the area. Up near Little Fort, there are two new fire starts in the area of Dunn Lake. Those are quite visible to the surrounding area. We do have initial attack crews and helicopters responding to all of our new starts throughout the day [Monday].”

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The most significant wildfire of note in the area continues to be the Shetland Creek wildfire, which has shut down a section of Highway 1 between Cache Creek and the Highway 8 junction at Spences Bridge.

Despite cooler temperatures to start the week, conditions in the area will continue to promote fire growth for the foreseeable future.

“For the Shetland [Creek] area, again, temperatures are going to crest [Monday], they’re going to come down a little bit in the coming days, and then slowly build back up over the weekend,” Armel Castellan, meteorologist with Environment Canada, suggests. “That remains consistent for the Fraser Canyon, as it does for the South Thompson.”

In a video posted by the BC Wildfire Service this weekend, Incident Commander Jeff Walsh says BC Wildfire Service crews are focused on a few key areas of the fire, looking to establish containment lines and protect any assets that might be threatened by the fire.

“Our main focus currently is establishing containment lines between Murray Creek drainage and Twelve Creek using heavy equipment and ground resources,” Walsh explains. “As well, we have a heavy presence of ground crews, as well as structure protection working in the Venables Valley, assessing for future concerns and setting up sprinklers and mopping up around structures.”

The TNRD is hosting an information session for evacuated Venables Valley residents Monday night in Kamloops at the Hal Rogers Centre at 6:00 pm. With so much new activity in the area, BC Wildfire wants to remind folks to stay vigilant and contact them if they see signs of a fire.

“We really encourage everyone to report wildfires to 1-800-663-5555 or through the BC Wildfire Service app,” Coray says. “We do have new functionality in the app that allows you to attach photos and tell us exactly what you’re seeing, where you’re seeing it, and send it directly to our operations team. That helps us make those response and operations decisions that much quicker.”