As aggressive wildfires in the Okanagan keep property owners and firefighters on edge, things look strikingly different in the Cariboo.
“The fire situation in the Cariboo Fire Centre is quite quiet right now,” said fire information officer Madison Smith.
Recent cool, damp weather resulted in low fire behaviour for a fire of note north of Big Stick Lake west of Williams Lake that is classified as being held.
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Rain also helped reduced fire behaviour of the Young Lake blaze southeast of 70 Mile House, with wildfire activity dampened by conditions seen Monday, Aug. 16 on the Flat Lake fire south of 100 Mile House.
Although a 12,101-hectare blaze in the Churn Creek Protected area remains classified as out of control, an evacuation alert for the Gang Ranch and Canoe Creek-Dog Creek areas was rescinded earlier this month by the Cariboo Regional District.
There are currently five active fires in the Quesnel zone — three of which are out of control and two that are being held.
Flare-ups were shown to have produced significant amounts of smoke near Nazko River and Purdy Lake over the weekend in photos shared on social media.
“(But) There hasn’t been any new growth seen on any of those fires in the past few days,” Smith said.
Across the Cariboo, Environment Canada is forecasting cooler weather this week with a chance of showers.
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