About a dozen residents at East Barriere Lake spent hours last night tackling flames after lightning started a wildfire.
Resident Richard Paul says the fire started within 50 feet of East Barriere Lake Forest Service Road – the only road in and out of the community – and says it was within a kilometre of homes.
“We were here last night and the storm rolled through with pretty high winds. You could really tell the thunder and lightning was right overhead. The gap between the flash and the bang was immediate, and loud. It was kind of scary, we lost our power.”
Paul says people were fortunate because they had a water source within range of the fire, and he says they pumped water for more than three hours before the flames were out.
“It was pretty engulfed, and looking like it was going to really take off further. As I say, we were very fortunate to have a water source right there, and everybody just kind of jumped in and starting doing things. Downing the water flow, people started pulling the hose up the bank, and then we just proceeded pumping water.”
The BC Wildfire Service didn’t send resources last night but are heading there this afternoon to put out hot spots. The fire is still mapped at 0.01 hectares on the BCWS interactive map, but an updated size estimate is expected later this afternoon.
The fire was one of seven with the Kamloops Fire Centre started by lightning yesterday, according to the BCWS.
“They’re all single-tree to spot-sized fires at this point in time. So we’ve crews on route to some of the ones northeast of Kamloops, and we’ve got a birddog out doing a (reconnaissance) and taking a look from the air at some of the reports that have come in,” information officer Nicole Bonnett says.
According to Bonnett, there were two fire starts between Kamloops and Chase yesterday, two north of Celista, two more east of Barriere and one other in Wells Gray Provincial Park. She says there are now 14 active fires in the Kamloops Fire Centre.
Footage sent to me from a lightning-cause wildfire at East #Barriere Lake last night from a resident. About 8 people there spent several hours actioning the fire themselves as they feared for their properties. Story to come on @RadioNLNews #Kamloops pic.twitter.com/0dFFyAk422
— Colton Davies (@ColtonDavies_) June 14, 2019
