UPDATE: 8:15 a.m After strong winds fueled rapid growth on the Blue Mountain fire Friday afternoon, those winds calmed by evening, reducing the fire’s behavior. As of Saturday morning, the new fire burning west of Penticton is estimated to be about 53 hectares in size, slightly higher than the 50-hectare estimate as of Friday night. “Later in the evening, we saw about Rank 2, which is just a surface fire with a slow rate of spread and a disorganized or inconsistent flame front,” said fire intelligence officer Shaelee Stearns. During its rapid spread on Friday, the fire exhibited Category 4 behavior. ORIGINAL: 7:10am Crews are returning to the fire burning west of Penticton Saturday morning after the fire was quickly spreading Friday afternoon. High winds in the Okanagan fanned the flames of the Blue Mountain fire, and as of Friday night, the BC Wildfire Service estimated it was about 50 hectares in size. The fire, burning north of the Keremeos Creek fire, is believed to be human-caused. Six air tankers responded to the fire before sunset Friday and 12 BCWS firefighters attended the ground. It was unclear Saturday morning how many personnel will be working on the fire today. The Penticton Indian Band has issued an evacuation warning for four properties in the area. A few other new house-sized fires are also burning west of the Blue Mountain fire. These are believed to have been started by lightning.
