BC Wildfire crews are battling a wildfire up Green Mountain Road, just past the Apex Mountain Resort turnoff.
At approx. 5:30 p.m. the fire was 0.2 hectares in size, and had three helicopters, plus eight crew on scene. The fire was first reported at approx. 3:49 p.m. Several units from Penticton Fire Department attended before turning the scene over to BC Wildfire Service.
The fire is in high terrain, and crews loaded up with gear before hiking up the mountainside toward the fire. The wind was calm, and both crew and local residents were thankful for this.
Close by, about two kilometers down the road, several residents watched the fire while discussing what to do.
Dennis Shelbey pondered whether or not he should, like the neighbours, load his horses and take them into town.
“I’m just worried about other fires that spread so fast after being so small, so that’s why I’m going to hang out here probably for the night,” he said.
Shelbey made the trip from town to watch over his cousin’s property, which is also where he keeps his two horses. If he has to, he’ll load up and drop off his horses at a stable in Penticton.
The lifelong local has never seen a fire this close to his cousin’s property, and this he said has him worried.
“That kind of freaks me out a little bit,” said Shelbey.
He said the response by firefighters to this fire has been fast.
Just up the road, firefighting helicopters lowered to fill up in a lake, a small swamp nearby residents refer to as ‘fake lake’.
This close water resource, just down the road from the fire, has allowed helicopters to drop water frequently.
“That’s what I like to see, them bomb it right away and knock it down so that it doesn’t get so carried away,” Shelbey said.
He looked at the ground behind him, a pasture covered in yellow grass. With just a well, there’s no option for irrigation to keep fields green.
“My pasture’s pretty dry, so I hope it doesn’t come over here.”
This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
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