The BC Wildfire Service says the two wildfires that popped up east of Kamloops over the weekend are suspected to be human caused.

Kamloops Fire Centre Information Officer Jody Lucius says while they suspect they are human caused they don’t have specific details on what the cause might be.

“So the good news on those two fires is that they have not grown in size since Sunday. The 100 hectare fire has been upgraded to a being held status, which means we don’t expect any further growth on it. The 250 hectare one is still listed as being out of control however crews are making great progress on it. We do have three people on site at those fires again today.”

Lucius says the hot fry conditions are responsible for increased fire risk especially in the valley bottoms.

She says while there are wildfire staff already online and working on fires the air tanker fleet won’t begin to arrive until months end.

The Chief of the Neskonlith First Nations says the pair of wildfires on band territory over the weekend are under control with little in the way of damages.

Chief Judy Wilson says the two fires are pretty much knocked down claiming only a few hydro poles as damages.

“It is pretty much contained. They were doing a back burn in the area yesterday just to ensure that the fire didn’t have anymore fuel.”

As for how they got started Wilson says the suspicion is people were burning around their houses to get rid of any fuel.

“People are trying to take it into their own hands about making sure that the under story, the built up fuel they are trying to get rid of. I think it has to be a coordinated approach. We are going to be sending messages to our community members today.”

She says everything is tinder dry and any spark at this point will ignite a wildfire.

(Photo credit Melissa Martin)