Crews are still busy tending to wildfires burning between Princeton and Merritt today, following a lightning storm on Tuesday evening.

According to Kayla Fraser, fire information officer with BC Wildfire Services, the fire at Black Mines Road, west of Princeton, is now under control thanks to the efforts of a team five firefighters and a helicopter assisting over the evening of Sept. 3. It is classified as a spot-sized fire, measuring less than 0.01 hectares in size or an area of 10 x 10 m.

Another response officer is assessing the area at China Creek, again west of Princeton, where another spot-sized wildfire is burning. Fraser said crews will be dispatched to the area pending the assessment. Both fires near Princeton are suspected to be caused by lightning strikes.

READ MORE: Lightning sparks two fires in the Similkameen

Northwest of Princeton and northeast of Tulameen, a wildfire at Dry Lake is also now classified as held and not expected to continue to grow. Fraser said the spot-sized fire had five personnel responding and the BC Wildfire Service map says its cause is currently unknown.

Multiple air tankers are responding to the wildfire at Hillary Road, which is currently burning at 0.4 hectares. Tankers will remain in the area to hold the fire until ground crews arrive.

Fraser said BC Wildfire Services does not currently have an update for the wildfire located north of Dodds Lake, though it is noted as another spot-sized fire. Both wildfires at Hillary Road and north of Dodds Lake are located southeast of Merritt.

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