Campers flee Wood Lake fire north of Harrison Hot Springs

The fire isn’t threatening any homes or structures, but it is in a recreational area so RCMP have blocked off the road and asked campers to leave the nearby Wood Lake campground. Wind has played a big part in fanning the flames.

“The conditions will drastically improve once we get past (Tuesday) afternoon”, said Environment Canada forecaster Greg Pearce.

The air quality for the Central Okanagan is expected to be good for Tuesday, but the smell of smoke is expected to remain in the area for much of the day. “It should really help the firefighters on Wednesday”. The wildfire is still zero per cent contained and more than 70 firefighters, six helicopters, and two pieces of heavy equipment are on scene for the human caused fire.

About 140 fires are now burning throughout the province and the fire danger rating in some areas – particularly in the southwest just inland from the coast – has been increased to extreme.

Initially, the Coastal Fire Centre said the fire was 200 hectares on August 3, but smoke and strong winds made estimates hard.

There have been 1,390 wildfires in B.C. this season, including 428 that were human-caused, BC Wildfire Service’s chief fire information officer Kevin Skrepnek said.

“We’re going to be reassessing the need to move the people out of the way that are working or camping to the far north of this fire”.

The fire is believed to be human-caused.