By Greg Fry

Tunkwa Lake fire rages on after overnight battle

May 16, 2018 | 9:07 AM

KAMLOOPS — Update: The BC Wildfire Service has mapped the Tunkwa Lake fire and confirm it is currently140 hectares in size.

“We have 60 people on site today working on that fire,” says Fire Information Officer Jody Lucius. “And today they’re working on containment and trying to prevent growth on the north side of the fire.”

She says no structures in the area are currently threatened.

Earlier: The Tunkwa Lake fire near Logan Lake is still considered “out of control.”

Fire Information Officer Jody Lucius with the Kamloops Fire Centre says there were about 17 personnel battling the fire overnight, looking for hot spots and trying to get containment on it.

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“We’re not really sure how big it is at the moment. We estimate it’s from 25 to 150 hectares in size as of last night,” she says. “Because of the accessibility issues we weren’t able to get a really good track around that fire so we’re going to attempt to do that today.”

And though there are structures near the blaze, Lucius says none have been lost since it started Tuesday afternoon.

“With the conditions the way they were and the way the fire was burning, they weren’t considered threatened.”

She adds the fire is believed to have been human-caused.

“Right now the perception out there is that everything is wet because we are flooding in a number of areas. However, in a lot of areas where we’re not seeing flooding; we’re seeing dry grass combined with the dry conditions.”

Lucius notes that the punishment for starting a fire is substantial.

“Anything that contributues to a wildfire can be fined up to the cost of the fire suppression activity on that fire plus a $1,150 fine.”