There at start of wildfire

Darcy Lynn Galbraith and her mother were driving from Vernon to Kamloops Wednesday, when they saw a small puff of smoke from the side of the highway.

In only a matter of seconds, it would turn into a wildfire that grew to 150 hectares near Monte Lake.

“By the time we had gotten up to it, it was a little 10, maybe 15-foot radius fire,” she said.

“We parked our van and got out. We ran over, started pouring the water on the fire, and then the wind just picked up and took the fire up the hill.”

Galbraith believes it was a cigarette butt that started the blaze, as it started just two feet from the road.

"I didn’t even think to look for a cigarette butt because I was just trying to do what I could," she said.

It took only 30 seconds before the fire crossed the fence line along the highway.

“It hit the fence and then in about another minute, it was back into the trees,” she said. “Once we ran out of water and water bottles, we ran over to the van, I grabbed my phone and tried calling *5555.”

BC Wildfire Service would not confirm the cause of the fire, as it is still under investigation.