Photo taken at 13 km on the Lodestone Forest Road, looking towards Dear Mountain on Friday night. UPDATE: 17:35 The BC Wildfire Service had several helicopters respond to the Champion Creek fire Saturday, which is 31 kilometers west of Princeton. “It’s still kind of in that thick smoke in the area. So a lot of people may be seeing smoke in the area, both from this fire and the fires just south of the border in the U.S., and ash in the area has been reported . So for everyone’s awareness, this is mostly due to the fires in the US,” said fire information officer Shaelee Stearns. “The fire burned on top of a ridge and just burned the area below it. We’re seeing mostly rank one and two [fire behaviour] also with similar some pockets of three where the wind and the slope have a line right there to increase the fire activity a little bit.” The fires in BC they are ranked on a scale of one to six, with six being the worst. Stearns said no ground crews were called to battle the fires today. “When we look at the resources, we are based on specific priorities, and this inside [terms of] The lumber prices on it, it’s manageable right now for a helicopter for sure.” The fire is still estimated at 11 acres and has been declared out of control. ORIGINAL: 10:48 AM The Champion Creek fire burning 31 kilometers west of Princeton is now estimated at 111 hectares. The BC Wildfire Service said the fire may be visible from Highway 5 and the community of Tulameen. The fire was detected on Friday afternoon and is currently burning on uneven ground away from houses. “We do have personnel coming out to assess and plan how we’re going to implement fire tactics,” said fire information officer Melanie Bibeau. “We’ll also have a helicopter coming back today.” The Tulameen & District Fire Department shared that their firefighters have notified residents and are investigating the location of the Champion Creek fire. The fire department is urging the community to be aware and safe.
