The B.C. Wildlife Management Branch has responded quickly to a forest fire reported in the elevated Pincushion Mt. area west of Peachland which is currently .1 hectare in size.
A 10-person initial attack crew was dropped into the fire area by helicopter about an hour ago and air tankers are also attacking it from the air.
Kayla Pepper, spokesperson for the Kamloops Fire Centre which includes the Central Okanagan, said this new fire is in a similar area to the 2012 Peachland wildfire.
“Right now it is minor in nature and no homes are immediately threatened, but it is an interface fire as houses are not too far away, so we want to respond quickly,” said Pepper.
“We’ve been getting a lot of calls from people who were seeing smoke so that has been very helpful for us to have that quick response.”
Pepper said the initial attack crew arrived from Penticton, as other crews are still working on the mop up operations for the SmithCreek wildlife in West Kelowna and the Apex Mountain fire further south.
Pepper said there were no identifed lightning strikes in the area so the initial suspicion is this new fire was likely human-caused.
More details to come.
