Wildfire funneling smoke into valley
By Kyra Hoggan
Air tankers are responding to a wildfire discovered this morning about 8.5 km south of Silverton and 1.5 km east of Highway 6, according to Southeast Fire Centre information officer Jordan Turner.
He said the fire is about 1.5 hectares and is burning at Rank 4 (Rank 4 means “highly vigorous burn” – Rank 1 being a smoldering burn with no flame, while the other end of the scale, Rank 6, would indicate an extremely hot burn with trees exploding, etc.).
Turner said that’s not, however, likely the cause of the smoky haze that has settled over the valley.
“That’s from a fire near Apex Mountain, about 20 km southwest of Penticton,” he said, adding it’s roughly 100 hectares, and the cause of it is still under investigation. The Southeast Fire Centre’s website indicated this afternoon that this fire is zero-per-cent contained.
“A couple of days ago, the smoke was coming from a wildfire near Tumbler Ridge, and there’s one on the border of Banff National Park that is funneling smoke into the East Kootenay,” he said. “We’re kind of surrounded by wildfires, but they’re all far away.”
The report a wildfire, call 1-800-663-5555 or *5555 from a cellular phone.
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