There are smoky skies in Clearwater today as a wildfire burns in the Jones Creek area, about three to four kilometres, away from the community’s boundaries.
That is according to Mayor Merlin Blackwell, who tells NL News that the fire was called in around 8:45 a.m. Monday, May 2.
“The fire turned from when I first went down to look at it about 11:30 this morning from white smoke to a dark, brown smoke which means the fire is heating up according to my sources,” he said around noon, estimating the fire to be about as large as a soccer pitch.
“The smoke right now is drifting to the west, so towards the North Thompson Park area. It is not terribly active. There is not a lot of wind or anything right now, but it has probably grown about ten times in size from initially reported, just judging by the photos I’ve seen.”
Blackwell says the fire appears to be burning into the trees on the edge of a clear cut.
“There is a very strong likelihood that it started out as a slash burn that wasn’t attended to or go out of, you know, something smouldered back to life,” he added, noting there are concerns about the response time from the BC Wildfire Service.
“With initial attack crews no longer stationed in Clearwater, it will likely take several hours before one gets up from Kamloops. This fire [wasn’t] on the fire map yet, four hours after being called in.”
Speaking to NL News, the BC Wildfire Service says this fire near Clearwater is about 2.5 hectares in size.
“It is burning Rank 1, so it is just a smouldering ground fire with a slow rate of spread,” Fire Information Officer, Shaelee Stearns said. “No open flames but it might be putting up a bit of white smoke though so it is important to note that a lot of people are probably going to be seeing that smoke.”
“We do currently have eight people on scene for this fire with seven more on route. “There is no need for heavy equipment or air support because, like I said, we are seeing that Rank 1 fire behaviour.”
It is suspected to be a human-caused fire, but Stearns said it is still under investigation.
– With files from Paul James
As seen from downtown Clearwater pic.twitter.com/fQs3OvDgw2
— Merlin Blackwell, Mayor (@BlackwellMerlin) May 2, 2022