Wildfires in Cariboo have consumed 32,000 hectares
Posted August 3, 2010 2:52 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
WILLIAMS LAKE (NEWS1130) – Firefighters continue to battle hundreds of blazes across our dry province sparked by lightning days ago. Massive fires in and around the Cariboo are proving very hard to knock down, let alone contain.
Fire information officer Grace Pickell says several fires near Meldrum Creek just west of Williams Lake have engulfed 7,500 hectares and 200 firefighters are working on the ground.
A blaze south of Williams Lake has consumed 6,200 hectares while three large fires are also burning west of Alexis Creek. The air quality index in that area is hovering at “high” for health risk.
Pickell says lightning strikes a week ago are to blame while evacuation orders and alerts have been issued.
“We got quite a few thunderstorms move through the Cariboo region last Tuesday night, so about a week ago. That was kind of the culprit that started many of our fires of note,” she says.
Firefighters near Kamloops are still trying to get a better handle on the Jade Mountain Fire north of Lillooet, which has burned 1,500 hectares.
For more on the Meldrum Creek fires, click here.
For more on the Dog Creek fire, south of Williams Lake, click here.
For more on the Jade Mountain fire, click here.
