Songbird Ranch fire is out. A witness at 9:00pm stated that he had not seen smoke from Sidley Meadows for about an hour.
Folks will be returning from the Warden's place with updates from his forestry radio.
Website now updated to "being held" - sleep well.
I was just sent flight radar screen shots from a little after 3:00pm, showing tankers from Penticton heading to the fire. I have e-mailed the info officer for an update on status and response.
Fire starts from lightning can pop up days after the storm. Have your go bag ready.
One new firestart on the map - 2 IA crews and four Heli's working the fire. Heavy equipment heading up Sidley Mountain Road.
Initial reports had a fire near the McKinney Nordic trails. On the map, it is beyond the trails footprint, and is now showing as one dot, not two on the map. It appears that resources have accessed the area from the Hwy 3 side.
We did hear a couple of rumbles early last evening, but it was a quiet and cool evening for sleep. The two fires closest to us are "being held" and "under control".
BMR electrician Parker was side tracked from the regular maintenance yesterday working on what was affected on the lifts from the storm. Depending on the accuracy of the tracker, it is possible that the hit I saw from upper shaft could have struck the lift. He just about had everything fixed when I stopped by.
Another warm day can still bring fire starts related to the lightning.
If the smoke forecasters are right, we should be OK today, near the bottom of the scale.
As delighted as we all were with the moisture last night, the ground has dried out very quickly.
N61179
We saw a heli go over a short while ago. AT 5:00 pm it is showing "out of control", but it is a small one and should be managed when a crew gets there.
I did not see the fires mentionned on another source - the closest appears to be Jolly Creek and is listed as Under Control, as is one farther away.
Departed YYF just after 8:00 am, did a loop over one of the hardest hit areas in the valley, looking around here now.
That was quite the storm last night. It is not the worst we have experienced. Several years ago a strike occured in what is now Scott's lot at the ski hill end of Porcupine and Blue Jay. It had been a healthy spruce, and dried out chunks of it were found as far away as the Eagle Chair.
That one was so loud and close, I thought it was at my place.
The ground is still wet, but my deck is already dry. It sounds like we did not get as much moisture.
I will take a look around later, and I would not be surprised if a heli flies over for a look this morning.
To report a wildfire, use the BC Wildfire app, or call the reporting centre:
To report a wildfire or irresponsible behaviour that could start a wildfire in British Columbia, please call 1 800 663-5555 or (*5555 from a cell phone) as soon as possible.