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Wildfire east of Merritt 69 ha, remains classified as ‘being held’

Crews will be heading out for a final patrol of the area tomorrow (April 15)
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The status of the Lauder Road fire, located approximately 8.5 kilometres east of Highway 5A, near Merritt, remains as ‘held’, however BC Wildfire Services says this could soon change to ‘under control’.

BC Wildfire Service explained that a crew will be heading out for a final patrol of the area tomorrow (April 15).

As of 3 p.m. April 14, the fire was estimated to be 69 hectares (ha) in size.

Yesterday, April 13, the fire was estimated to be 50 ha, 30 ha larger than it was Sunday.

READ MORE: Wildfire east of Merritt, 50 ha in size, classified as ‘held’

On Monday, four firefighters were on scene, working to gain a more accurate track of the fire’s perimeter.

“The fire was in higher elevation, so it would have experienced freezing temperatures overnight and that would have helped the fire put itself out,” said Kamloops Fire Centre information officer, Kyla Fraser on Monday.

At the time crews were responding to three wildfires burning in the Kamloops Fire Centre.

READ MORE: Several wildfires burn in Kamloops Fire Centre

In a post on social media Sunday night (April 12), BC Wildfire Service explained that all three blazes are suspected to be human caused.

All three fires were discovered on April 12.

Across the province there are currently eight active wildfires larger than 0.009 ha in size.

Up to date info on active wildfires can be found here.



Phil McLachlan

About the Author: Phil McLachlan

Phil McLachlan is the editor at the Penticton Western News. He served as the reporter, and eventually editor of The Free Press newspaper in Fernie.
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