Located just past Vidette Lake in the Thompson Nicola region’s Deadman Valley is a magnificent canyon with a waterfall. But the greenery around the area is one of the latest bits of B.C.’s iconic forestry to be burned by blazing wildfires.
New aerial footage taken by the Skeetchestn Natural Resources and made public Friday (July 9) shows what used to be hundreds of large, green trees replaced with blackened debris after the raging Sparks Lake wildfire moved through the area in recent days.
Deadman Valley is an area well-known to locals in the surrounding region, but not as common knowledge to many British Columbians. The area, as part of one of four reserves on Skeetchestn traditional territory, includes abandoned cabins, an old graveyard and Vidette Lake – known by some as the “Center of the Universe.”
GOLDEN COUNTRY: The Centre of the Universe is in our backyard
ALSO READ: Firefighters monitor 3 fires burning near Young Lake
The Sparks Lake fire is burning an estimated 39,251 hectares in size. It was discovered June 28 just 15 kilometers north of Kamloops Lake.
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Skeetchestn cabins at Marshy Lake survive Sparks Lake wildfire on July 8, 2021. (Skeetchestn Natural Resources)
