Two wildfires that erupted late Sunday night in Washington State, south of Osoyoos, continue to spread uncontrollably.
BC Wildfire is currently holding their resources in reserve for fires north of the border, and has not yet deployed any assistance to the Cold Springs or Pearl Hill wildfires.
According to the National Wildfire Coordinating Group’s incident dashboard, the Cold Springs fire has grown to over 66,000 hectares (ha) in size since it was discovered at 9:45 p.m., Sept. 6. It is located approx. 4 km south of Omak, WA.
Close by also is the Pearl Hill fire, which is 70,400 hectares, and located approx. 14 km east of Bridgeport, WA. The Pearl Hill fire was first reported at 3:39 a.m. on Sept. 7.
Bridgeport is approx. 45 km south of Omak.
READ MORE: Special air quality statement in effect for Okanagan Valley
Highways 97 and 155 out of Omak have been closed due to the fires, with evacuation alerts and orders in place, and multiple structures have been lost. No injuries have been reported. Both fires are still uncontrolled, having spread quickly due to strong winds and low relative humidity.
According to an update by Northwest Interagency Coordination Center on Wed., Sept. 9 by the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center, 110 residences, and 75 other structures are currently threatened by the Cold Springs fire, which is zero per cent contained.
Smoke from the fires has contributed to a special air quality advisory for the Okanagan Valley.
For more information on current air quality, click here.
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