The Thompson-Nicola Regional District Director for the Lac Le Jeune area says the BC Wildfire Service is gearing up to provide additional assistance area south of Kamloops that remains in close proximity to the Ross Moore Lake fire.

As part of a public meeting Thursday evening, which saw roughly 100 people attend, Mike Grenier told Radio NL the wildfire service assured residents that steps are being taken to keep the community safe.

“As a precautionary measure, they deployed a massive 12-inch mainline sprinkler system through a portion of the Lac La Jeune community and they would hope to do the planned ignition as early as this Saturday,” Grenier said on the NL Noon Report.

He says wildfire service crews are also set to conduct controlled burns this weekend.

“The Incident commander says he is feeling very good about the north section which is where we see a lot of the smoke and a lot of the fire recently,” Grenier added. “The southwest section could use some more containment and that is what this exercise is all about.”

“They are well aware of the wood between them and the fire-front, and this appears to be, if conditions are right, the right time to deal with that and contain the southwest section.”

The Ross Moore Lake fire is burning roughly two kilometers from the Lac Le Jeune area. While the fire is currently listed at over 72 square kilometers in size, it has not breached its perimeters.

The BC Wildfire Service said yesterday an upcoming heat wave next week will be a challenge for crews who are fighting the trio of fires in the Adams Complex near Kamloops.

“We now have guard containment all the way around the Ross Moore Lake wildfire, with a small unguarded area on the southwestern corner of the fire,” the BC Wildfire Service said, in an update Friday. “We are currently preparing for a Planned Ignition near the Lac Le Jeune community to secure this small unguarded area.”

“This will allow full containment of the fire, ahead of warmer conditions next week.”

There are just under 200 firefighters working this fire, along with structure protection personnel, 32 pieces of heavy equipment, and air support.

– With files from Victor Kaisar