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UPDATE: New wildfire west of Penticton has grown to 55 hectares

The Blue Mountain wildfire started on Sept. 2 and is thought to be human-caused
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The Blue Mountain wildfire in Penticton has grown to 50 hectares (Photo - @BCGovFireInfo/Twitter)

UPDATE: Saturday, 11:00 a.m.

The Blue Mountain wildfire, west of Penticton, has grown to 55 hectares.

BC Wildfire Service believes the blaze that ignited Friday afternoon, Sept. 2, is human-caused.

The Penticton Indian Band emergency operations centre has been activated, with several properties currently on evacuation alert.

The blaze grew has grown by nearly 45 hectares since late Friday afternoon.

Environment Canada issued a special air quality statement for the South Okanagan at 10:30 a.m. Saturday morning, with wildfire smoke expected to impact the region over the next 24 to 48 hours.

Wind in the area also created some growth in the now 7,000-hectare Keremeos Creek wildfire.

The Blue Mountain wildfire is located approximately 15 killometres north of the Keremeos Creek blaze, BCWS says.

More to come.

ORIGINAL: Saturday (Sept. 2), 7:30 a.m.

The Okanagan’s newest wildfire grew substantially overnight.

Overnight, the new blaze that started Friday afternoon (Sept. 2) grew to 50 hectares in size in the Blue Mountain area, just west of Penticton. Smoke and haze from the blaze took over the Okanagan skies Friday night.

Strong winds in the area helped spread the fire throughout the night.

According to BC Wildfire Services, the fire is human-caused, something that’s been greatly improved in the province this season.

On Friday night, the Penticton Indian Band set out an evacuation notice to four homes in the Shingle Creek area.

The wind in the South Okanagan also created some growth in the Keremeos Creek wildfire.

Weather in Penticton on Saturday (Sept. 3) is expected to be sunny and cloudy with a high of 31 C and 30 kilometre winds, gusting up to 50 km/h. Local smoke is also expected.

READ MORE: Here’s what’s happening this Labour Day weekend in the South Okanagan

READ MORE: Penticton Peach Festival electric float suffers ‘failure,’ $60k needed for replacement


@cunninghamjordy
jordy.cunningham@kelownacapnews.com

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