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Man-caused fires frustrate

Human-caused wildfires over the long weekend have B.C. fire officials frustrated.

The wildfire burning near Harrison Lake has now grown to more than 100 hectares in size, the B.C. Wildfire Service reported Monday evening on its Twitter feed.

The blaze was discovered Sunday afternoon about 20 kilometres north of the lake in an area thick with brush and logging debris. 

The fire isn't threatening any homes or structures, but did cause the evacuation of nearby campgrounds.

“An awful lot of people had to go home because of somebody’s carelessness,” resident Desiree Wolf told CTV. “It's a bit shocking how it's been a fire restricted season this year. You would have thought that people would have had a better handle on things, and would have been more careful in the forest.”

Officials say 70 firefighting personnel have been called in. Helicopters and air tankers have been fighting the blaze, and the Martin Mars bomber is also at the scene. The fire is zero per cent contained.

The Wildfire Service says there are currently 139 fires in the province, 11 of which began on Sunday. 

More than 30 per cent of the fires this summer have been caused by humans, said fire information officer Kevin Skrepnek.

"We've certainly seen a bit of an uptick in terms of human-caused fires in the last few days,” said Skrepnek. “Of course, we've had some hot, dry temperatures, and it has been the B.C. Day long weekend as well, so there have been a lot of people in the backcountry."

Meanwhile, a fire began in Surrey on Sunday, burning up to five hectares of grass near Newton Athletic Park. Dozens of cigarette butts were found nearby, and officials say the fire was likely caused by humans.

A grass fire also started along the Sea-to-Sky Highway near Horseshoe Bay, Sunday evening. The blaze had spread more than 60 metres along the road by the time crews arrived. 

In the Interior, a small forest fire started off the Carmi Forest Service Road, near Beaverdell, on Monday.

It was estimated at 1.2 hectares in size. No lightning had been reported in the area.

A four-person initial attack crew, helicopter and air tanker responded to the fire.

Elsewhere across the Interior, the Wildfire Service said via Twitter, winds have been pushing smoke into valley bottoms near Kelowna, Kamloops and Merritt, although the smoke is not coming from local fires.

So far, more than $169 million has been spent fighting wildfires in B.C. this season.

– with files from CTV Vancouver



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