A helicopter covers the Blue Mountain fire Friday afternoon. UPDATE: 17:20 Twenty-seven BC Wildfire personnel responded to the Blue Mountain fire west of Penticton throughout Saturday, assisted by three bucket helicopters and multiple pieces of heavy equipment. Fire information officer Shaelee Stearns said the estimated size of the fire has not changed at 54 hectares, with crews not making much progress today. “We’re kind of seeing fire behavior from first to second with a few places in third. So that behavior that we’re seeing has definitely dropped from yesterday,” he added. The fires in BC they are ranked on a scale of one to six, with six being the worst. Stearns said the cause of the fire remains unknown, with the fire’s origin and causes responding, “The cause of that is under investigation. I believe we previously said it was suspected human, but it’s just under investigation now just because there’s reason to believe it might not be suspected human.” UPDATE: 11:55 a.m The Blue Mountain wildfire was still estimated at 54 hectares Saturday, but the BC Wildfire Service said that could change due to high temperatures this weekend. “As the temperature rises during the day, it is expected that fire behavior may increase a little bit, but it will also depend on the winds,” said fire information officer Melanie Bibeau. “We saw a little bit of a drop in temperature overnight, so we had a little rebound overnight.” Five members of staff were on site overnight. Today 16 firefighters are supported by two helicopters along with heavy machinery. The fire is still considered out of control. UPDATE: 9:35 a.m Sixteen firefighters are returning to battle the Blue Mountain wildfire west of Penticton on Saturday. The fire broke out on Friday afternoon and quickly spread to an area of about 50 hectares that evening. As of Saturday morning, the BC Wildfire Service now estimates its size at 54 hectares. Five firefighters remained on the fire overnight. On Saturday the 16 firefighters are supported by two helicopters along with heavy machinery. While six aircraft were used to fight the fire on Friday, no fixed-wing aircraft were being used this morning. The fire is believed to be human-caused. 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.
