UPDATED:

The Sparks Lake wildfire has ballooned today to 20,000 hectares in size.

The fire has forced 163 properties to be put on evacuation order and about 250 others on alert within the Thompson Nicola Regional District.

The evacuation is now affecting areas close to Loon Lake and Hihium Lake, as well as Red Lake, Deadman Lake, Vidette Lake and the Tranquille Valley. A map of the evacuation area can be found here.

People who are being evacuated are asked to check in at the McArthur Island Events Centre in Kamloops where arrangements can be made for accommodations.

The blaze started late Monday afternoon and was human-caused, although an exact cause has not been announced.

It started while the fire risk was high-to-extreme in almost all of B.C., during a historic heat wave that has come after the driest spring in modern history in Kamloops.

As of 2:30 p.m., the BC Wildfire Service had 56 personnel on site and 10 helicopters, as well as two pieces of heavy equipment.

TNRD Keeping An Eye On Two Major Wildfires

Meanwhile, the Thompson-Nicola Regional District is also keeping an eye on another major wildfire in case of potential impacts to residents.

Spokesperson Michelle Nordstrom says the McKay Creek fire north of Lillooet is burning close to the TNRD’s southwest boundary.

“We’re all kind of watching things closely and coordinating, if we do need to have properties on both sides of the boundaries on alert or order. So we’ll just have to wait and see what kind of activity happens over there.”

The McKay Creek fire started yesterday afternoon and quickly grew to 5,000 hectares in size. As of 5:35 p.m., it remains at that size. There are about three-dozen properties near Pavilion that were evacuated Tuesday night in close proximity to that fire.

The fire is suspected to have been human caused.