The Chief of Kamloops Fire Rescue says crews have been able to contain the blaze which broke out Saturday afternoon in Kenna Cartwright Park west of Thompson Rivers University.

“Our crews were able to contain it [the fire] about an hour-and-a-half ago,” KFR Chief Ken Uzeloc told Radio NL at around 6:15 on Saturday evening.  “We’ve been able to get a steady flow of water in there, so we’re knocking things down.”

Because there are no water mains running into Kenna Cartwright Park, Uzeloc says crews had to use their pumper truck and water tenders in the initial stages, before they were able to run a four-inch hose from the Home Depot location to help sustain the water supply.

As for the cause, Uzeloc says it’s too early to say at this point.

However, he notes there have been a number of homeless encampments in the area.

“There was a lot of black smoke coming out when we arrived,” noted Uzeloc, which suggests man-made elements involved in the fire.

The fire appears to have taken hold around 3:30 on Saturday afternoon on the upslope of the hills behind the Home Depot location west of Hillside Stadium.

Hillside is where the BC Lions annual Fan Fest was taking place at the time, where around 1,500 people turned out to celebrate the team as part of its annual Training Camp ritual.

The event itself was not disrupted.

Radio NL staffer Carissa Dawn was at Hillside for Fan Fest when the fire broke out.

“We didn’t know if the fire department had been aware,” said Dawn.  “Then about two minutes later somebody here from Fan Fest went on the microphone on the stage and said the Kamloops Fire Department is aware of the fire on the hillside. They are on their way and at this point, they said there’s no eminent danger and that we will continue Fan Fest, and if anything changes they would let us know.”

 

The fire’s location and scope were enough to prompt the BC Wildfire Service to become involved.

BCWS sent a pair of its crews from its Kamloops Fire Centre headquarters at the Kamloops Airport into help with the containment efforts, according to Kamloops Fire Rescue.

While KFR Chief Uzeloc wasn’t willing to be as definitive, the BC Wildfire Service does list the fire as human caused.

BCWS says the fire reached 1.1 hectares in size.

With temperatures hitting the high 20’s on Saturday, and 30 degrees anticipated Sunday, along with the possibility of thundershowers and wind gusts of up to 60 km/h Sunday afternoon, the Wildfire Service has put most of Kamloops-proper into an Extreme Fire Danger rating.

KFR Chief Ken Uzeloc says the City of Kamloops will raise its Fire Danger rating to Extreme to match that of the Wildfire Service.

“We’ve had a lot of rain recently, so everyone sees the green grass and thinks, ‘we’re fine,'” lamented Uzeloc.

With temperatures expected to stay in the high 20’s to low 30’s much of this coming week, the Fire Danger rating throughout the Kamloops Fire Centre could reach Extreme in a number of communities in the coming days, including Clearwater, Merritt, Lytton and Lillooet.