East Flank of Kelly Creek Fire Focus Today

By 250 News

CLINTON – Cooler weather today is assisting fire suppression efforts as crews work to contain escapes on the north and east flanks of the Kelly Creek fire.

Strong winds and dry conditions in the area caused an increase in fire activity on Wednesday, pushing the fire to 20,500 hectares, or 205 square kilometres.

Today firefighters will work to build guards by hand to protect the Clinton watershed. Heavy equipment is available to assist with construction of guards should the fire become more active.

Seven additional helicopters arrived yesterday to support fire suppression efforts, and airtankers dropped fire retardant to create a guard line along the north flank. Further resources have been requested, and a Type-1 Incident Management Team will assume control of the fire today.

The Thompson Nicola Regional District has issued an evacuation alert for areas affected by the Kelly Creek wildfire. For additional information, please contact the Emergency Operations Centre at 1-866-377-7188.

The fire danger rating remains high to extreme across the southern Cariboo. Fire officials are urging extreme caution, and the area surrounding the Kelly Creek wildfire remains closed to public access.

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