Controlled burns at blaze

UPDATE: 3:35 p.m.

The fire burning west of Kamloops is now believed to be burning a 200-hectare area, after ground crews accurately mapped the blaze Thursday.

The large fire was sparked Wednesday, and it's since grown rapidly on both sides of Highway 1, just west of Savona.

Crews on scene are now using controlled burns to help keep the blaze from growing.

“The Sabiston Creek wildfire will have ground crews burning out pockets of unburnt fuels between the edge of the fire and the control line in order to widen our control lines and eliminate fuels that have the potential to ignite on their own,” the BC Wildfire Service Tweeted.

These controlled burns can only be conducted when conditions are ideal, and earlier Thursday, fire information officer Marla Catherall said the winds had died down significantly compared to Wednesday. 

The controlled burns may create more smoke in the area.

---

UPDATE: 11:05 a.m.

The wildfire west of Savona is still smouldering, but responding well to B.C. Wildfire Service efforts.

"There are 33 personnel on site," says fire information officer Marla Catherall. "Some are B.C. Wildfire employees, some are contract crews that are helping."

While the fire quickly grew to 100 hectares by Wednesday evening, Catherall says the cool night and calm morning have kept that growth from continuing.

"The winds aren't supposed to be as gusty today which is great," she says. "That played a big factor yesterday."

While the fire is still classified as out of control, it's not acting in an extreme manner. Catherall says the plan today is for the 33 ground crews to build a guard around the fire, focusing on the eastern side, to keep it from spreading. No aircraft are currently scheduled to participate in suppression efforts.

It is suspected to be human-caused, but an exact cause hasn't been identified. No human structures have been threatened (though a power outage affecting around 400 B.C. Hydro customers was connected to the fire), and no injuries related to the fire have been reported.

The fire is burning in an area just across the Highway 1 bridge over the Thompson River, at the intersection with Sabiston Creek Road. The area is covered by sagebrush and grass.

– Kamloops Matters

---

ORIGINAL: 8:45 a.m.

More firefighters are expected to arrive in an area west of Kamloops to help contain an aggressive wildfire that scorched a square kilometre of grassland, sage and bush within hours.

The blaze, which is believed to have been started by humans, broke out near Savona Wednesday, severing Highway 1 between Kamloops and Cache Creek

Crews were able to reopen the highway after the flames responded well to suppression efforts.

Several aircraft were assigned to the fire Wednesday, but strong and gusty winds complicated the work.

At one point, the flames had burned below power lines cutting electricity to about 400 customers, but the BC Hydro website shows power was restored within hours.

Environment Canada reports a "precipitation deficit" in the Kamloops area after an extremely dry spring and even the five to 10 millimetres of rain expected across the region this weekend won't be enough to erase the parched conditions.

Forecaster Matt MacDonald says last month was the seventh warmest May in the region since 1893, while Kamloops only saw 64 per cent of normal precipitation for the month — the third dry month in a row.

“We're sitting about 50 millimetres short of normal rainfall amounts. The spring, as a whole, was very dry,” MacDonald says.

“There's just such a significant precipitation deficit for the first part of the year for most of the Southern Interior."

After weekend showers pass through MacDonald says hot, dry conditions are forecast to return with temperatures in the low 30s expected to last for a week or more.

June rains are common in British Columbia and the wildfire service says moisture in June is the key to keeping the forest fire risk in check through July and August.

There are currently no burning bans in the Kamloops or southeast, but campfires are banned in one zone of the northeast.

Open fires larger than a campfire are restricted in the Coastal, Cariboo, Northwest and Prince George fire centres.