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Fire Rescue Saves Family of Eagles

Jul 14, 2018 | 11:29 AM

Fire crews were hard at work overnight as hot spots above Shuswap road flared up in the early evening.

The 500 hectare East Shuswap Road Fire had moved up the hill, but when the wind shifted flames returned to the area of the previous burn.

Kamloops Fire Rescue assisted the BC Wildfire Service shortly after 6 p.m., working to extinguish the hot spots.

“We both had crews on it overnight,” said KFR Captain Wade Lindoff. “There were many hot spots left, of course. So, Forest Service had ground crews, and then we also had four members with a couple apparatus out there patrolling.”

Lindoff says once those spots were taken care of, crews worked to protect an eagle’s nest at risk of burning behind Sage Meadows.

“There was a large eagle’s nest in a dead tree. That tree caught fire, and there was a family of eagles up there, it had young ones and adults. We were able to position an apparatus to get water on that tree before it burnt through.”

Lindoff says the family of eagles is an important part of the community, and they are now safe.

 

Story supplied by Jill Sperling, CFJC

Photo credit: Dave Somerton