Crews plan controlled burns to bring Okanagan wildfire in check

The provincial wildfire service has planned controlled burns in the southern Okanagan region of British Columbia in a bid to bring a large blaze burning in the area back under control.

Information officer Mikhail Elsay said Sunday that the planned burn will increase the perimeter of the Keremeos Creek fire, currently about 21 kilometres southwest of Penticton, but should ultimately help contain the nearly 60-square-kilometre blaze.

"The fire size is going to grow because we're bringing fire to our control lines,'' he said in an interview Sunday.

He said crews will ignite less than half a square kilometre, to bring the fire down to safe, workable ground.

381 firefighters are working to contain the Keremeos Creek wildfire and the cause of the blaze is still under investigation. It's one of eight wildfires of note in the province — fires that are highly visible or pose a potential threat to public safety.

The Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen's emergency operations centre said more than 500 properties are under an evacuation order, and over 1,000 others are under an evacuation alert.

Elsay said hotter and drier conditions over the past few days will increase fire activity, but calmer wind conditions should help firefighters' efforts.

Crews are making "very good progress'' and he said Sunday to Tuesday will be a good window to make up ground.

"Last night was very calm and we're hoping that it'll continue to stay calm in the overnight periods,'' he said on Sunday. "The evenings are much more stable over the last couple of days.''