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UPDATE – Aerial crews fight visible fire in Lac du Bois area near Kamloops

Paul James
Jul 23, 2024 | 11:48 AM


UPDATE - Aerial crews fight visible fire in Lac du Bois area near Kamloops

Fire burning in the Lac du Bois area northwest of Kamloops/via Paul James

UPDATE 1:30 p.m. – The BC Wildfire Service says there are multiple aerial resources responding to the Wheeler Mountain wildfire in the Lac du Bois area to the northwest of Kamloops.

It says there are helicopters and skimmer airtankers working the fire, which is estimated to be about 8 km northwest of Kamloops City limits.

The City of Kamloops says its Emergency Operations Centre and Kamloops Fire Rescue are aware of the blaze, noting there may be smoke visible across parts of Kamloops.

“There is no current or anticipated threat to the city as result of this fire,” the statement said.

The BC Wildfire Service also confirmed there is no threat to communities or structures at this time.

“We are also responding to three wildfires north of Kamloops Lake with initial attack and aerial resources,” the BC Wildfire Service added.

The fire appears to be burning on the edge of the tree line to the north of the grasslands area. It started to become visible shortly after 11am Tuesday, though its not clear what sparked the blaze.

However, the storm which rolled over Kamloops last night did create a series of lightning strikes, which can take several hours to form into full-fledged fires.

The Wildfire Service says there were over 38,000 lightning strikes across the province. Monday, the majority of which were in the northeast and in southern central B.C.

“Yesterday was a windy day which produced exceptional lighting in B.C,” it said, in Tuesday’s situation report. “This total added to the over 20,000 lighting strikes from the previous 24 hours. As some of these storms came with precipitation, we expect fires from these strikes will show over the next few days.”

“We are focusing our response on priority fires which are interface fires that affect communities and people. As more resources become available we will expand our response.”