RCMP say they have identified a suspect in a domestic assault which was followed by a truck fire that started a wildfire south of Merritt on the weekend.

Spokesperson. Cpl. Chris Manseau says Merritt RCMP have a suspect, although there is no word of any arrests being made to date.

The investigation comes after an alleged assault Saturday near Brookmere along Coldwater Road, east of the Coquihalla Highway. Manseau says police have received reports that a man assaulted a woman he was camping with and, as part of that, hit her with a fish.

Manseau says, like many witnesses have reported online, that reports to police are the man threw a lit barbecue in his truck bed and drove off before the truck caught on fire, burning it to its rims before the fire spread into the bush and started the Brook Creek wildfire.

On Monday, Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth said “a violent encounter and a clear disregard for safety” were what led to that wildfire starting. Local fire crews said it was a rank six blaze when it broke out, spreading quickly in winds and jumping from trees.

The blaze has now forced 100 evacuation orders, for Brookmere and Kane Valley, and 90 evacuation alerts for Aspen Grove and nearby areas. To date, there have been no reports of structure losses.

The Brook Creek fire has now merged with the July Mountain wildfire; the latter was started by lightning west of the Coquihalla on July 13, and the merged fires are now just under 21,000 hectares in size.