Skip to content

Lightning sparks fires in Nakusp area

Four fires were started Monday by lightning in the Nakusp area.

Things in the Southeast Fire Centre (SFC) were relatively calm until Monday when lightning sparked 28 new fires.

“The Southeast Fire Centre experienced significant lightning,” explained Karlie Shaughnessy, information officer for the SFC. “The good news is that none of these fires are threatening any structures or communities and that they all are fairly small in size.”

Four of those fires are near Nakusp and most are in the Turner Creek And Dunn Creek region. As of press time all are under half of an hectare in size and are not threatening any structures or communities. Personnel and aircraft are currently fighting those fires.

In addition to those, several fires are burning on the east side of Arrow Lake.

A fire at Mount Marshall five km southeast of Burton is being held by an initial attack crew.

A fire at Miller Creek, 10 km east of Burton is spot-fire sized.

An older fire at Woden Creek is 100 per cent contained and crews are patrolling for flare-ups.

None of the fires in the region are large enough to be causing the smoke that has moved into the area. IfdsZt is coming from the larger fires in the Kamloops and Cariboo regions.

“The public can expect to see more smoky skies as the wind prevails from the west,” said Shaughnessy.

With no significant precipitation in the long-term weather forecast, conditions are expected to worsen.

A complete fire prohibition remains in effect for the entire fire centre. Anyone going into the backcountry is urged to use extreme caution, especially if operating off-road vehicles as their exhaust systems can and do start forest fires.

If you see smoke coming from the forest, or a fire, call the forest fire reporting line at 1-800-663-5555 or *5555 on your cell phone.

Updated fire information can be found at bcwildfire.ca.



Betsy Kline

About the Author: Betsy Kline

After spending several years as a freelance writer for the Castlegar News, Betsy joined the editorial staff as a reporter in March of 2015. In 2020, she moved into the editor's position.
Read more