A fire east of Merritt near Minnie Lake Road, south west of Douglas Lake has grown in size, because of a controlled burn by firefighters in the area.

Fire Information Officer Hannah Swift says the fire, is now 112 hectares, up from the 80 hectares yesterday.

“Crews on site performed a small scale controlled burn operation in order to bring the fire back to a natural protective boundaries,” she said.

“It was just in order to secure the fire lines, and the crews drew the fire back to natural protective barriers to make it more secure, the boundaries of the fire.”

Swift adds the same nine BC Wildfire personnel who were out yesterday will be patrolling the fire, likely for a half day today, along with members of the Douglas Lake Fire Department.

The fire is believed to be a human caused one, and Swift says crews made really good progress in controlling it yesterday.