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Okanagan and Washington fires make for hazy skies in Boundary

Massive fire approximately 125 kilometres south of Grand Forks sending smoke to B.C.
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Planned ignitions were conducted by fire crews on the south side of the wildfire near Gallagher Lake Thursday to help contain the Eagle Bluff wildfire, now an estimated 2,270 hectares. (BC Wildfire Service/Submitted)

Boundary residents have been smelling smoke this week that has wafted from Washington and Okanagan fires.

To the west near Oliver, the Eagle Bluff fire is burning approximately 28 square kilometres of hillside, prompting evacuation alerts for areas north and south of the blaze, on the east side of Highway 97. The fire is suspected to be human-caused.

BC Wildfire Service staff confirmed with Black Press Friday that there are 73 ground fire crew on-site during the day, and another 20 attacking the fire at night. Thirteen helicopters are also in rotation to help fight the fire.

Approximately 125 kilometres south of Grand Forks in Washington, the Williams Flats fire covers nearly 162 square kilometres east of Grand Coulee.

Plumes from both fires have collected and are drifting northeast over the Boundary and central Interior.

According to the Government of Canada’s wildfire smoke model, the haze in the Boundary is set to intensify over the course of Friday and into Saturday. The model predicts that the majority of the smoke will have blown further north and out of much of the east Boundary by Sunday morning.


@jensenedw
Jensen.edwards@grandforksgazette.ca

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