Crews douse abandoned fire

Photo: Darren Handschuh - File photo

The potential was there, but fortunately disaster was averted when a campfire was abandoned near Lumby.

Lumby fire Chief Tony Clayton said crews ventured onto Saddle Mountain Sunday evening to put out the large campfire.

“It was visible from Lumby,” Clayton said of the campfire that had logs as long as three metres long in it.

Campfires are still allowed in the Kamloops fire zone – which includes the Okanagan – but they must be half a metre by half a metre.

“This one was at least a metre wide,” said Clayton. “They had logs burning outside the rock edging. They had logs burning in the grass.”

Clayton said it took crews almost an hour to find the road that led to the campfire. When they arrived, no one was around.

Conditions were calm, but Clayton said had there been a strong wind, the fire could have easily spread to the surrounding trees.

“It had some potential for sure,” he said.