Smoke Challenges Crews

Provided By the BC Forest Service

Fire crews are being challenged by heavy smoke from the Tatoosh Fire which crossed into Canada from the United States yesterday evening. The heavy smoke is making it difficult for them to determine the location of the fire perimeter and hazardous to deploy fire fighters.

The Tatoosh fire started in Washington State on August 22nd by lightning. The size of the fire, located between Manning and Cathedral Parks, is estimated at 5,700 hectares with approximately 1,000 hectares burning in British Columbia. No homes or structures are threatened.

The Kamloops Fire Centre manager has restricted access to the Pasayten Forest Service Road and all its side roads south of Highway 3, and has ordered anyone currently in these areas to immediately leave the fire control area. The restriction area does not affect residents who are entering the area in the course of traveling to or from their residence.

Although the fire is a considerable distance from Princeton, an Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) has been activated in the Princeton Hospital to address smoke concerns from the public. As soon as the activation process is complete, the public information line number will be released to the media.

Forest Service officials are also monitoring the progress of the Tripod Complex Fire estimated at 62,255 hectares. The fire is about 4 kilometres south of the Canada/U.S. border. A second fire management team has been deployed to Oliver for planning in case that fire crosses the border.

The weather forecast indicates hot, dry weather will continue into next week. Although there is no campfire ban in effect, we would like to remind the public to ensure campfires are never left unattended. Campfires must be completely extinguished with the ashes cold to the touch. There have been more than 350 abandoned campfires in the Kamloops Fire Centre area over the summer with 24 of these resulting in wildfires requiring action by fire fighters.