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Crews attacking small wildfire burning next to Shuswap Lake

Crews attack Shuswap fire

UPDATE: 8:14 p.m.

The wildfire near Shuswap Lake is still burning, and fire crews are still on scene.

BC Wildfire Service is listing the fire at 1.8 hectares, and stating the fire is still out of control.

"The fire is in a terrain that has cliffs and is quite steep, which has been a challenge to the crews on site," says fire information officer Gagan Lidhran. "It is still considered out of control because they haven't been able to pull a full guard around the perimeter."

Lidhran says the advisory urging the public to avoid the area will be in place until the fire is completely out. BC Wildfire Service is still investigating the cause of the blaze, as it is unknown at this time.


UPDATE: 3:22 p.m.

The Marble Point fire has grown to two hectares this afternoon says fire information officer Gagan Lidhran. Currently 25 ground personnel from B.C. Wildfire Service (BCWS) are working on it, with two helicopters.

The team of skimmer planes have returned home having completed their objective, she adds. That said, it's still a very visible fire for those on the lake.

"It is an active surface fire with visible open flame," she says.

The public are being reminded to give the crews, in particular the air crews, space to work.

"BCWS did put out an advisory to boaters in the area around Shuswap Lake," Lindhran says. "The RCMP were requested for assistance."


UPDATE: 11:57 a.m.

The Marble Point fire has been mapped at about one hectare, according to the B.C. Wildfire Service and has ground and air crews attacking it.

Fire information officer Taylor MacDonald says a 20-person unit crew and four-person initial attack crew are in the forest working against the flames, while two helicopters and a skimmer planes are dropping water from above.

Information about it is sparse, she adds, as it's a recent fire. A cause is unknown and it's not believed to be threatening any human structures, though it is likely visible to people on Shuswap Lake nearby.

"We’ve had issues with boaters interfering with firefighting aircraft on Shuswap Lake," the BC Wildfire Service said in a tweet. "This is dangerous, both to the public and to our personnel, and interferes with critical firefighting operations. Please stay away from active wildfire sites on the ground, and on the water."

Two other fires to Kamloops's west are both under control, she adds. One, on Robbins Range Road reached .07 hectares before being classified as under control. Its cause is unknown. Another, outside of Chase on Mount Boysse reached one hectare before being brought under control. It was caused by lightning.


ORIGINAL: 11:20 a.m.

Some spectacular footage of a flames burning on the shores of Shuswap Lake shows a wildfire burning overnight.

The footage, captured by the Bigwater Taxi on Shuswap Lake and shared on their Facebook page, shows the Marble Point fire, burning north of Sicamous. In a series of videos the fire can be seen growing overnight and into this morning.

The fire appears to be candling in the trees and moving up the ridge beside the lake.

Currently the B.C. Wildfire Service (BCWS) has the fire noted on their map, but doesn't have any information about the size.



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