The Harrop fire as seen on July 28. Photo: Dominic Ngo

The Harrop fire as seen on July 28. Photo: Dominic Ngo

Harrop fire spreads

The wildfire has quadrupled in size in the past two days

  • Jul. 30, 2017 12:00 p.m.

BC Wildfire has upgraded the fire burning south of Harrop to a Fire of Note. It is approximately 80 hectares in size.

“The Southeast Fire Centre crews are monitoring the fire several times daily and are developing control strategies as the fire progresses,” stated a news bulletin from the Regional District of Central Kootenay’s emergency management office on Sunday morning. “At this time they are not requiring air tanker or helicopter support.”

However, John Boivin of the BC Wildfire Service told the Star this morning that a high-capacity Kamov helicopter that can carry 8,000 pounds of water arrived in Nelson today and will be deployed to the fire.

He said tankers were unable to get near the fire yesterday because of smoky conditions. And he confirmed previous reports that there are no ground crews fighting the fire because of unsafe terrain.

Castlegar News