Smoke from the Mara Mountain wildfire (photo courtesy of the B.C. Wildfire Service)

By Liam Verster

Wildfire Activity

Progress made fighting wildfires in Okanagan, Shuswap

Jul 21, 2024 | 6:17 PM

Firefighting crews made some progress suppressing local wildfires over the weekend.

The B.C. Wildfire Service reported two fires in the Seymour Arm area were downgraded to Being Held on the evening of Friday, July 19.

A fire at Four Mile Creek at Shuswap Lake’s Anstey Arm was downgraded to Being Held Saturday, July 20, though a 3.5 hectare fire at the north end of the lake’s arm was still classified as Out of Control as of Sunday, with no resources assigned and it suspected of being caused by lightning.

The Mara Mountain wildfire had grown to 163 hectares in size by Sunday, with the BCWS stating the fire was burning in steep terrain and inaccessible to ground crews. The provincial firefighting service did not state if air resources had been assigned to the fire.

The Mara Mountain wildfire east of Sicamous was still Classified as Out of Control and suspected as being caused by lightning in the latest update.

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The fires in close proximity to Mabel Lake were removed from the BCWS map, while two fires east of Sugar Lake were still classified as Out of Control, with another deemed Being Held.

One of those Out of Control fires was located at Sitkum Creek and estimated at 58 hectares, while the other at Outlet Creek Forest Service Road was 24 hectares in size. No resources were assigned to either fires and both were suspected of being caused by lightning. The fire in that area classified as Being Held was estimated at 90m² in size with no resources assigned and the cause under investigation.

The Bonneau Creek wildfire, located east of Echo Lake and Lumby, was still classified as Being Held as of Sunday morning, with Evacuation Alerts in place from the Regional District of North Okanagan. That fire was also suspected of being caused by lightning.

Smoke from wildfires in the area and beyond created hazy skies in the Shuswap and Okanagan Sunday, though Environment Canada did not put in place any air quality advisories in response to the smoke.