June 6, 9:45 a.m. – The wildfire burning west of Savona is still estimated at 100 hectares this morning, with 33 personnel responding today.
Fire Information Officer Marla Catherall says the fire is still out of control, but it is responding well to suppression efforts.
“We’re going to see similar temperatures that we did see yesterday,” she says. “So it’s a little bit cooler than it was previously, and the winds aren’t suspected to be as gusty today, which is great. That always helps.”
Catherall says the fire is suspected to be human caused, but the exact cause is still under investigation at this time.
She adds there were three ground crew members at the scene of the fire overnight.
7:15 p.m. – A wildfire just west of Savona has grown to 100 hectares in size according to the BC Wildfire Service, while Highway 1 has now reopened after an earlier closure according to DriveBC.
The BCWS says the blaze “is responding well to suppression efforts,” adding there are a dozen provincial firefighters battling the fire on the ground while air tankers and skimmers have provided aerial support.
There will be three BCWS personnel at the blaze overnight.
Meanwhile, power has been restored to the 419 BC Hydro customers in that area who were without, according to the company’s outage map.
4:50 p.m. – The Trans-Canada Highway is now closed just west of Savona because of a grassfire burning nearby.
The suspected human-caused fire is now 40 hectares in size and is burning near Sabiston Creek Road, about three kilometres west of Savona.
Fire information officer Taylor MacDonald says there are six provincial firefighters on the ground and air tankers battling the blaze as well. “Crews are experiencing heavy winds on site, it is adding a challenge to suppression efforts. Hopefully they’ll have some success out there tonight.”
Meanwhile, BC Hydro is reporting a power outage affecting more than 400 customers in that area.
DriveBC says there is no estimated time for the highway to re-open.
These fires come about a week after three lightning-caused wildfires broke out in the Savona area last week.
(Photo – @RoadCrew7 via twitter)
ROAD CLOSURE: #BCHwy1 between Savona station road + Big Sky Gas 48 km West of #Kamloops. Detour available through #BCHwy5. Please obey all traffic control personnel. pic.twitter.com/LDNkPBDmuw
— Argo Roads Thompson (@Argo_Thompson) June 6, 2019
— RoadCrew (@RoadCrew7) June 5, 2019
