A view of the Okanagan Mountain Park fire on Wednesday from the west side of the lake. Photo: Kathy Michaels/Capital News

A view of the Okanagan Mountain Park fire on Wednesday from the west side of the lake. Photo: Kathy Michaels/Capital News

Update: Okanagan Mountain Park fire grows to 577 hectares

Crews built hand guards and continued to extinguish hot spots.

Update: 9 p.m.

The Okanagan Mountain Park fire is now holding at an 577 hectares.

Today 23 firefighters worked to extinguish hot spots on the southeast side of the fire that is still considered active.

BC Wildfire Service fire information officer Noelle Kekula said Monday evening that crews have had a very successful day fighting the fires.

“There has been a lot of positive work on all of the fires in the Okanagan Complex,” said Kekula. “It was really good. A really good day on the fires.”

Kekula said crews are now just waiting to see if any lightning comes through the region tonight and if it does, they will manage accordingly.

Increased smoke near the Okanagan Mountain Park fire seen today was due to a new smaller fire that burnt an area previously untouched by the 2003 fire. Kekula says skimmer aircraft were able to quickly knock down the new small fire.

Update 6:28 p.m.

The Okanagan Mountain Park fire has now grown to an estimated 577 hectares.

Today 23 firefighters worked to extinguish hot spots on the southeast side of the fire that is still considered active.

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Original:

The Okanagan Mountain Park blaze, which is also called the Goode’s Creek fire, is holding at 400 hectares and remains active, says BC Wildfire Service.

Throughout Sunday crews built hand guards and continued to extinguish hot spots. Air support also continued to support ground crews throughout the day.

READ MORE: OKANAGAN FIRES COULD BECOME FIRESTORMS

Although smoke could be seen, it remained within the fire perimeter.

“This fire is burning in an old burn. This makes it less likely to exhibit the extreme fire behavior consistent with big timber fuels,” said the BC Wildfire Service in an earlier update.

“The fire continues to burn up and away from the residences.”

Evacuation alerts for properties along Lakeshore Road were lifted Friday, July 20.

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