A small planned ignition of approximately 30 hectares is expected to take place today on the Brenda Creek wildfire if conditions are stable.
The objective is to solidify and strengthen guards on the west side of the fire, said BC Wildfire in a tweet on Sunday, July 18. Crews will try and remove the fuel between the head of the fire and the control line to control the wildfire.
“We are fighting fire with fire. It is a good tactic that we use and is something that we do quite often,” said fire information office Mike McCulley.
However, the planned ignition will only go forward if weather conditions are optimal. Humidity and wind conditions are all taken into account when planning an ignition, said McCulley. Special crews will do some testing and watch the weather at the location to make sure everything is optimal for the planned ignition.
“It’s likely to push out a lot of smoke. It’s something people will see and will be quite visible so that’s why we often put a tweet out telling people that a plume of smoke likely will be from an ignition we may or may not be doing,” said McCulley.
The planned ignition comes after an incident management team assumed responsibility of the Okanagan Complex on Sunday. The Okanagan Complex includes the Thomas Creek and Brenda Creek wildfires. The Brenda Creek wildfire is measured at approximately 480 ha, down from 500 hectares due to a more accurate track of the fire on Saturday, July 17. The fire is classified as out of control by B.C. Wildfire but crews reported less vigorous fire activity on Saturday and overnight.
READ MORE: Incident management team called to assist with Thomas Creek and Brenda Creek wildfires
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