The Palmer fire located south from the border with Osoyoos has grown from 100 acres on Aug. 18 to 11,119 acres or 4,500 hectares on Aug. 21.
On Aug. 18, the blaze was reported to be 15 km from the border and as of Friday, it is reportedly between 6 and 9 km away from Canada, according to the Bureau of Land Management in Washington.
There have been 30 structures destroyed in the wildfire since it sparked on Aug. 18.
The fire quickly spread north with extreme fire behaviour as it progressed the shifting winds transitioned the blaze east and then north again.
Any smoke columns from the Palmer fire remain generally tilted to the north given the pronounced south and southwest winds over the area today. This is also reflected in the cloud cover moving quite quickly to the northeast in this time lapse. #WAWX pic.twitter.com/YxJGF05IOz
— NWS Spokane (@NWSSpokane) August 21, 2020
District firefighters, the department of natural resources and additional fire crews are on scene to assist in structure protection and fire suppression efforts. The fire is not contained and will likely continue to grow.
The blaze is about 11 km from Oroville, Washington, and evacuations are in place for homes in the Wannacut Lake Road and the Loomis-Oroville Road area.
The Town of Osoyoos Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) is monitoring the Palmer wildfire situation closely to ensure it can respond to emerging issues. This includes conference calls and updates from BC Emergency Management (PREOC) and BC Wildfire.
As the Palmer blaze grows to the south of Osoyoos, BC Wildfire crews are battling a 2,000 hectare fire near Penticton.
One home has been lost due to the Christie Mountain blaze.
BC Wildfire will have 132 personnel on-site for the day, along with 15 helicopters and three water tenders shuttling water. They are working in conjunction with structure protection personnel and multiple fire departments.
READ MORE: Wildfire burning across border with Osoyoos grows to 2,400 hectares
READ MORE: “Have a bag packed and ready to go”: Christie Mountain wildfire
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