UPDATE: 8 p.m.

Helicopters will continue to bucket the four-hectare fire in Spallumcheen, east of Highway 97A, until dusk.

Once night falls, fire crews will monitor the fire through the evening.

Hutley Road South will be closed to all traffic until further notice, while Hutley Road North and Head Road will be open to local traffic only.

The RCMP will be patrolling the area through the night.  

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UPDATE: 5:30 p.m.

The Township of Spallumcheen has placed homes on evacuation alert, as a wildfire continues to burn in the area.

Homes on McLennan Road and Keddleston Road, along with Twin Firs, Eagle Rock, Meadow Ridge and Belva's mobile home parks have all been placed under alert.

Residents under an evacuation alert should be prepared to leave their home on very short notice.

An emergency operations centre has been opened at the Spallumcheen municipal office at 4144 Spallumcheen Way.

Additionally, Hutley Road and Head Road are currently opened to residents only.

The wildfire is currently four hectares in size. 

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UPDATE: 5:06 p.m.

An eye witness to the wildfire burning in Spallumcheen, close Highway 97A, says firefighting efforts have made some inroads on at least one flank of the fire.

"They're gaining control on the lower north," said Jim Bing, who has watched the blaze as it expanded both south and north of its original point on the hillside.

In the last hour, aircraft joined ground crews in the battle against the blaze.

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UPDATE: 4:42 p.m.

A wildfire burning in Spallumcheen is now 2.5 hectares in size, according to Max Birkner of the BC Wildfire Service.

Birkner said no structures are threatened at this time.

However a woman at the scene said that when she spotted the smoke from her front window, she grabbed her two children and fled.

Roads have been closed in the Hutley Road area while firefighters battle the blaze.

The fire, on a hill above Highway 97A and about four kilometres north of Swan Lake, continues to grow, according to an eye witness at the scene. 

Birkner said fire origin and cause investigators are headed to the area.

– with files from Darren Handschuh

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UPDATE: 4:30 p.m.

An air tanker, two skimmer planes and a helicopter have been seen fighting the wildfire in Spallumcheen that started shortly before 2 p.m.

Three North Okanagan fire department crews and some BC Wildfire Service firefighters are battling on the ground, including Armstrong/Spallumcheen, BX/Swan Lake and Coldstream.

Eye witness Jim Bing said the fire continues to spread.

Trees have been candling and fire has whipped through the dry grass on the hillside, about one kilometre northeast of the Highway 97A/Hutley Road interchange.

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UPDATE: 4:17 p.m.

An air tanker has joined in the fight against a growing wildfire in Spallumcheen, about 200 metres off of Highway 97.

The tanker was seen dropping air retardant along one flank of the fire which is on a hillside, about one kilometre from the Highway 97/Hutley Road interchange.

A number of North Okanagan fire departments are on the scene as well as a handful BC Wildfire Service firefighters.

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UPDATE: 4 p.m.

At least one helicopter is at the scene, dropping buckets of water on the wildfire.

Witnesses say trees are candling as the blaze continues to spread. 

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UPDATE: 3:44 p.m.

A wildfire is burning on a hillside about one kilometre northeast of the Highway 97A/Hutley Road interchange in Spallumcheen, about 200 metres east the highway.

The fire has been growing in a southerly direction over the last hour, fanned by winds, according to Jim Bing, who can see the fire from his business.

"It's creeping to the north and south and there's been more candling," Bing said.

Earlier, one tanker was seen flying overhead but did not drop any water or retardant.

At least five fire trucks are at the scene from the Armstrong/Spallumcheen and BX/Swan Lake fire departments.

Because the fire is up to 100 metres into the bush, a specialized bush fire truck is being used for access.

Four members of the BC Wildfire Service have also been seen at the location of the fire and Coldstream's fire department has been called in to help out.

"I thought at first it was a campfire but then the smoke got heavier," said David Gillespie, a hunter who called in the fire around 1:45 p.m. 

Gillespie said people were known to camp out in that general location while Bing said it was popular in the summer with some off-roaders.

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UPDATE: 3:27 p.m.

Air support is said to be over a grass fire burning in Spallumcheen, just off of Highway 97A, across from Larkin Cross Road.

The fire is heading in a southerly direction, according to an eye witness who has seen trees candling.

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ORIGINAL STORY: 2:40 p.m.

A wildfire is burning in Spallumcheen, in forested land off Highway 97A, across from Larkin Cross Road.

The fire, which started after 2 p.m., is said to be growing with flames on a number of fronts, according to an eye witness who has seen trees candling.

Armstrong/Spallumcheen and BX/Swan Lake firefighters are on the scene and Coldstream firefighters have been called to provide mutual aid.

BC Forestry crews were headed to the scene and had requested air support.

Photo: Mike Dennison

A plane drops retardant on the wildfire in Spallumcheen Thursday.