Smoke from fire near Norman Lake rises above Cranbrook Hill. 250 news photo

Prince George, B.C. – A forest fire first detected near Norman Lake on Saturday has grown substantially from its initial 10 hectare size.

The Wildfire Management Branch says the Little Bobtail Lake fire, which started about 10 kilometres south of Norman Lake, now covers at least 800 hectares and is uncontained with no fire guards yet set up.

There are currently 30 firefighters, one helicopter and 4 pieces of heavy equipment fighting the fire, with an Incident Commander on site.  It is not an interface fire.

Smoke from the blaze is very visible from Highway 16 west and was seen above Cranbrook Hill Saturday night.  The smell of the smoke was quite strong in the bowl area last night and has been visible in the bowl all day.  However at this time there have been no air quality advisories issued.

The cause of this fire is under investigation.