Crews worked to contain two fires that hit the South Okanagan Tuesday.
Firefighters gained the upper hand on a 2.5-hectare fire burning near Naramata.
Ministry of Forests crews and Naramata Fire personnel began fighting the fire near the Adra Tunnel off the KVR trail around 5:30 a.m. which grew from 1.5 hectares to 2.5 within an hour.
There are power lines and homes in the area, but no evacuation order was made.
As of 10:30 a.m. ministry crews were providing air support to contain the blaze by dropping water and retardant. Water supplies were minimal in the area and were being shuttled in to the area to support crews.
“It’s not contained by any means, they kind of have an upper hand on it, so it’s a little bit in control but not too much,” Naramata Fire Chief Tony Trovao said Tuesday morning.
In the Kamloops Fire Centre 48 fires were started as of Sunday night.
“A lot of those were lightning caused. We had a lot of lightning activity move through,” said Navi Saini, Fire Information Officer.
RCMP are also investigating what is only being called something “suspicious” at this point.
As of Tuesday afternoon the fire was contained to a surface fire with minimal spread.
Another fire broke out Monday in Willowbrook, five kilometres northwest of Oliver. It was 82 hectares in size on Tuesday afternoon.
The fire was 80 per cent contained with no open flame and very little spread.
“Eighty per cent contained is a great number for us today,” said Kelsey Winter, fire information officer with the Kamloops Fire Centre.
Giant’s Head Mountain Park Road was closed Tuesday afternoon due to the fire risk.
“Just a precautionary measure, it’s still open to foot traffic and cyclists,” said Summerland Fire Chief Glenn Noble.
The road will be closed to vehicles until further notice.
As fires continue to pop up around the province, Valley First is reminding insurance clients to review their home insurance policies.
“The threat of wildfire evacuation and, in the worst case scenario, property loss is all to real in the Interior,” said Karen Edge, a Valley First Insurance Manager, in a release. “Anyone who is living in an area threatened by fired ould be wise to review their home insurance police to ensure they know exactly what, and for how much, they’re covered for.”
Home insurance policies with comprehensive coverage (a policy which includes a guaranteed replacement cost on your building) provide protection for losses related to forest fires. However, many people don’t review their coverage levels or coverage types annually and may need to revise their coverage to prevent out-of-pocket expenses.
If an evacuation notice is issued, insurance clients won’t be able to add comprehensive coverage or make police changes until the notice is lifted.
