There were two new wildfires in the Kamloops area over the weekend, although neither are expected to grow any further.
The first was discovered Friday south of Ashcroft, about two kilometres south of Venables Valley Road, and grew to six hectares in size, but it’s now been put out.
BC Wildfire Service information officer Kyla Fraser says the other is eight km north of Lytton and is being held at 21 hectares. She says three firefighters were attending that fire today.
Fraser says both are believed to be human-caused.
“I believe so, especially at this time of year it’s not uncommon for us to see wildfires. Because the fuels are really dry from over the winter, they haven’t had a chance to green up yet. But we haven’t seen any lightning, so suspected human-caused.”
There’s one other active wildfire in the Kamloops area which is west of Merritt and is 11 hectares large. It has been deemed under control for a full week.
“We’re only just past mid March, but this type of fire activity is quite normal for springtime. The grass and other fuels are dead from the winter. They haven’t had a chance to green up yet, so they are a little bit volatile,” Fraser says.
“While it’s not uncommon, it’s a good reminder for people that we need to be careful with any burning that we are conducting. And even though it’s not super hot, there still is potential for fires to start.”