Fire crews douse unattended burn pile on OIB lands

Unattended pile left to burn

Photo: Oliver Fire Department

Crews with the Oliver Fire Department doused an unattended burn pile overnight.

Firefighters were called at 12:20 a.m. Friday for a report of a brush fire off Black Sage Road.

“Crews arrived to find an unattended burn pile,” said the fire department. “Crews extinguished the pile as best they could with a crew remaining overnight to ensure the burn pile was fully extinguished.”

Firefighters managed to stop the blaze from spreading into the nearby grass.

The fire was located on Osoyoos Indian Band land, so the Oliver Fire Department says it does not have jurisdiction to enforce fines for out of season burning, “but we do remind the public that there is a fire ban in place at the moment.”