UPDATED:
The Sparks Lake wildfire northwest of Kamloops has now grown to 100 hectares and has forced nine properties to be put on evacuation alert.
Six of the properties on evacuation alert are on Tranquille Criss Creek Road, while two are on Seven Lakes Road and one is on Leblond Road. Information from the Thompson-Nicola Regional District on what to prepare during an evacuation alert can be found here.
The wildfire started around 5 p.m., and is suspected to be human caused. The most recent size update was given just before 9 p.m. by the BC Wildfire Service.
The wildfire service says it has 27 personnel at the fire along with helicopters, air tankers and heavy equipment. Smoke has been seen from many parts of Kamloops and from communities further west, including Tobiano and Savona, and places north including McLure and Barriere.
This is one of four fires in the Thompson-Nicola region that started this afternoon, although the other three are less significant.
Just east of Merritt, a fire started just after 1 p.m. on Hamilton Hill near the Okanagan Connector. It is mapped at only 0.3 hectares in size and according to DriveBC it is now out. That blaze was suspected to be human caused.
Meanwhile, one is near Paul Lake Road and is considered a spot fire, or 0.01 hectares, while another is also currently considered a spot fire burning within Arrowstone Park, near Cache Creek. The cause for both is listed as “unknown.”
This fire activity comes as the fire danger rating is extreme in most of the Kamloops area, and is either extreme or high in almost every corner of B.C.
The province is mired in a historic heat wave, which has also now seen Kamloops break all-time temperature records for two days in row – reaching a high of at least 44.7 degrees Celsius today. A heat warning from Environment Canada is in place for almost all of western Canada and much of the western United States.
(Photo: BC Wildfire Service)