Sunday may be a day of rest, but not for the Okanagan Falls Volunteer Fire Department.
Crews were called out to four separate grass fires on the morning of Sept. 2.
“They are all alongside the road. RCMP are investigating,” said Rob Oliver, Chief of the Okanagan Falls fire department. “They are all separate, all with space between them.
“We got there, hit it hard and put them out before they extended into more material.”
Oliver said the fires were small enough that they didn’t call for support from the BC Wildfire Service.
“We did it on our own. We got it knocked down. They’re busy elsewhere,” said Oliver.
The Green Lake Road Fire, which broke out Friday evening west of Okanagan Falls, grew to about seven hectares and did require BCWS assistance, including air drops from tankers and planes.
Related: Update: Highway 97 reopens near Okanagan Falls
Nicole Bonnet, BCWS wildfire information officer, said that fire is now under the watch of the Okanagan Falls fire department.
“We didn’t have crews out there today,” said Bonnet. “We were out there yesterday and the day it started, at the request of the Okanagan Falls Fire Department.”
****A correction was made to this story as Rob Graham was initially identified as the Okanagan Falls fire chief, when it should have been Rob Oliver. The Western News apologizes for the error.****
Steve Kidd
Senior reporter, Penticton Western News
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