Kelly Lake Fire Grows

By 250 News

CLINTON – Strong winds and volatile fire conditions pushed the Kelly Lake fire toward the north-east on Thursday. The fire is currently estimated at 10,000 hectares, or 100 square kilometres.

A Type-1 Incident Management Team has assumed control of the fire, bringing additional fire management expertise, fire behaviour analysts and planning capacity to the fire. Additional resources are en route.

There are currently 70 wildfire fighters working on this fire, including crews from British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario. Crews are working to build containment lines, focusing on areas closest to homes and infrastructure. Steep, inaccessible terrain in many areas is limiting access for crews and heavy equipment. Fire suppression personnel are being supported with medium and heavy helicopters used to bucket water onto hot spots, and six heavy equipment machines to construct extensive fire guards.

Twenty-one Structural Protection specialists are also in the area, assessing the risk to structures and establishing sprinkler systems to limit the risk of fire in rural residential areas. No structures have been affected by this fire.

A community meeting will be held in Clinton Sunday evening; the time and location have not yet been determined.

The Thompson Nicola and Squamish-Lillooet Regional Districts have issued evacuation orders and alerts in the vicinity of this fire. For more information, please contact the Emergency Operations Centre at 250-377-7188.

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