Update: 8:30 a.m., May 9, 2025
A fire burning near Anglemont is being kept in check by local firefighters and the contractor conducting a wildfire risk reduction initiative in the area.
At 7:44 p.m. Thursday, May 8, the fire was reported as out of control on the BC Wildfire Service map. However, on Friday morning, Columbia Shuswap Regional District Deputy Regional Fire Chief Len Youden explained both the contractor and Anglemont firefighters responded the evening prior, and that they left 9 p.m. with the view that the fire wasn't "anything that anyone felt was ripping or running away or was going to be a major issue."
"There was a crew up there that鈥檚 doing thinning and treating and they had done some burning and the last time they burned apparently was three days ago," said Youden. "Then we started getting some reports of smoke up above鈥� we had someone drive by, they went up to take a look at it and it had obviously flared up from three days ago and was kind of running beyond the piles they had burned.
"So the zone was great, they responded, I spoke to them, they had an officer on route right away, they called back in the crew that was doing the mitigation work. Our team supported them with a little bit of water鈥�"
Youden explained the contractor was hired by the province to undertake the Crown land wildfire risk reduction initiative.
"They cut the trees, they thinned the forest, they treat the surface and then they pile it and burn it in a controlled manner, usually and ideally," he said.
As of 8:30 a.m. on May 9, the fire had been redesignated from out of control to being held.
Original story
A wildfire is currently burning just north of Anglemont in the North Okanagan.
The blaze was discovered on Thursday, May 8 and as of Friday morning, it is 0.6 hectares in size and out of control. BC Wildfire Service has confirmed it is human-caused.
According to the map, the fire is close to Pukeashun Road.
More to come.
