Smoke from the Ross Moore Lake Fire/via Brett Mineer
The B.C. Wildfire Service says crews continue to make good progress fighting the 26-square kilometre Ross Moore Lake fire, which is located about 10 km south of Kamloops.
Information Officer, Forrest Tower, tells Radio NL crews are mopping up hot spots in the northeast and southeast corners, while also building a guard using heavy equipment in the north and northwest.
He says the fire is burning mostly Rank 1 and 2, with that lower fire behaviour expected into Thursday.
“So good fire fighting weather,” Tower said. “We’re still working on equipment to complete guards and as well on extinguishing any hotspots to try and limit the spread any further north.”
“Most of the activity has been kind of the northeast and northwest corners of the fire but we haven’t seen any rapid or significant movement or growth in the last few days.”
Tower though cautions that the weather forecast – while favourable – will continue to determine how the BC Wildfire responds to the lightning-caused fire that was sparked on July 21. Aside from a chance of thunderstorms on Thursday night, the weather should cooperate heading into the weekend.
“If we do have any thunder cells or high wind events develop over that area, there is still a chance that we would see some growth on this fire but every day that we have good firefighting weather is more and more containment on this one,” he said.
Environment Canada weather forecast as of 4 p.m. on July 26, 2023.
So far the fire has been mostly confined to the forested areas south of Kamloops. Local officials tell Radio NL that Trans Mountain and BC Wildfire personnel have been working on those fire guards in the Edith Lake, Hull Lake, and Long Lake areas to try to prevent the fire from making it into the grasslands.
The BC Wildfire Service says it has two Initial Attack and one unit crew on this fire for a total of 36 firefighters including medics, line locators, danger tree assessor fallers, and those in other operational roles.
There are also nine helicopters, 11 structure protection personnel, and 24 pieces of heavy equipment assigned to the Adams Complex – which includes the Ross Moore Lake fire, the Lower East Adams Lake Fire, and the Bush Creek East Fire.
The team is based out of @cityofkamloops and will be managing resources and ongoing operations within the complex. There are currently 76 firefighters, 11 structure protection personnel, 9 helicopters and 24 pieces of heavy equipment assigned to the complex.
— BC Wildfire Service (@BCGovFireInfo) July 26, 2023
There are 344 properties in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District that remain on evacuation order. Another 200 or so properties in both the TNRD and the Knutsford area of Kamloops remain on evacuation alert.
“With 99 per cent certainty, there are no anticipated changes today or tomorrow in terms of a size reduction [for orders or alerts],” Tower told NL News. “There is always the chance that orders and alerts could increase with unanticipated fire growth but we aren’t expecting that to be the case either.”
“Friday will be the earliest things could change based on current objectives.”
