The Tolko site fire on Saturday (Image credit: Jared Thomas/Contributed).

By Aaron Schulze

Merritt Wildfires

Wildfire at old Tolko site in Merritt declared out; fire north of Nicola Lake still burns

Jul 31, 2023 | 10:51 AM

MERRITT, B.C. — A wildfire that ignited south of the City of Merritt Saturday (July 29) afternoon is declared out.

According to the BC Wildfire Service’s online dashboard Monday morning, the Lilly Lake Road wildfire at the old Tolko site in Merritt grew to 0.6 hectares before it was under control.

However north of Nicola Lake, the Moore Creek wildfire remains out of control and is estimated to be 5.5 hectares.

Melanie Bibeau, fire information officer with the BC Wildfire Service, says crews will return to the Moore Creek wildfire Monday. Crews have a helicopter and air tankers battling the fire.

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“We have seen the return of those hotter and drier temperatures, and some wind activity over the last couple of days. And decreased overnight recoveries; lower relative humidity,” Bibeau says. “Because it has been so dry, typically when you get into those later afternoon temperatures with those temperature increases, sometimes you will see an increase in fire behaviour, but it will be dependent on what kind of conditions you see in the coming days.”

The Moore Creek wildfire is burning nearly 18 kilometres south of the Ross Moore Lake wildfire south of Kamloops, although Bibeau says there’s currently no information on if the two fires will be able to conjoin.