(Photo: Nathan Ritchie)
Kamloops RCMP say someone was fined for starting a grassfire in Knutsford on Saturday afternoon.
The fire happened just before 1:30 p.m. next to Highway 5A near Running Horse Ranch Road.
Mounties say the fire was caused by someone using a camping stove on a fence post, when it fell over onto the grass. Witness reports to NL News suggested the person was boiling water on the stove for coffee.
Kamloops Fire Rescue and passersby were able to stomp out the fire, and by 2 p.m. KFR crews had the fire under control. It grew to an estimated 0.25 hectares in size.
Const. Crystal Evelyn says a suspect was arrested after police talked to witnesses at the scene.
Evelyn says a ticket was issued under the Wildfire Act, but did not specify its amount, other than to say those fines can be more than $1,000.
At this point, it appears there is no connection between this fire and suspicious fires near Knutsford in the past week.
Last Tuesday, at about 11:45 p.m., Mounties were called to suspicious fires on Goose Lake Road near the 3.5-kilometre and 10-km marks, and the BC Wildfire Service says there were five small fires in total.
Two days later, early Thursday morning, police responded to a grass fire in the same area which grew to 33 hectares. The City of Kamloops activated its emergency operations centre in the morning as a precaution, but it says no homes were threatened and no evacuations were needed. It was the second time the city activated its EOC this month; the first time was on Canada Day after lightning caused a wildfire near homes in Juniper Ridge.
Anyone with information is asked to call Kamloops RCMP.