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Penticton  

Blaze bright, but still safe

The Snowy Mountain wildfire near Keremeos has had highly visible flare-ups over the weekend, causing some alarm in the community, but BC Wildfire says the blaze is still being held.

"It's not under control, but it is being held, it's still burning within the identified containment lines," said fire information officer Steve Kada. "There has been an increase in fire activity in the banks and drainage area due to an increase in windy conditions, and crews will be working in that area again today."

Crews will also be working on re-deployment of sprinklers in the area to help ensure the fire stays within containment lines. 

Smoky conditions have hampered firefighting efforts this weekend, due to limited visibility. 

"We haven't had the opportunity to launch any aviation resources, but today the weather has cleared enough that we can get some aircraft up and they will be assisting our ground crews today," Kada said.

Evacuation alerts in the area, which is near the Keremeos Rodeo Grounds, are still in place, and Kada said at this stage, they aren't anticipating needing to upgrade those to evacuation orders. 

"At this stage, that's not in the cards," he said. "At this stage, it's still burning behind the containment lines."

BC Wildfire will be keeping close tabs on the roughly 13,300-hectare blaze, and will advise the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen if alerts need to become orders. 



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