Wildfire grows near Pentictonas more military crews joinfirefighters

Officials are warning that a wildfire burningsouthwest of Penticton, B.C., may affect operations at the localairport as crews made headway this weekend on several blazes in theprovince.

The City of Penticton says the so-called Skaha Creek fire is notthreatening structures in the municipality, but the response mayaffect services at the Penticton Regional Airport as well asrecreational boating on Skaha and Okanaganlakes.

The fire grew Monday to around twosquare kilometres in sizeand is now considered out of control. Over 50 personnelare currently fighting the fire, withmore help expected to arrive Monday afternoon to support the B.C. Wildfire Service.

PentictonMayor John Vassilakisaid Sunday night was stressful for residents who could see flamesnear the city but on Monday morning, only a bit of smoke could be seen coming from the fire.

He said there's little fuel left to burn, so the fire has stopped growing at the moment.

"It makes me feel a lot better, and it also makes the community across the lake feel a lot better and safer at the present time," he said in an interview onCBC's The Early Editionon Monday morning.

However, he said the wind could shift at any moment.

"We're just hoping there's not going to be anymore flares ... or embers flying and starting fire in different locations," Vassilaki said.

About 120 Canadian Armed Forces personnel were scheduled toarrive this weekend to assist with theout-of-controlWhite Rock Lake fire west ofVernon, B.C., while firefighters from Mexico helped tackle awildfire outside West Kelowna.

The B.C. Wildfire Service also reached significant milestones onseveral fires that were downgraded from out-of-control to being "held'' Saturday, including two blazes northwest of Castlegar.

The new classification means the fires are not likely to spreadbeyond existing boundaries under the current and forecastedconditions.

'Just be really cautious'

On Monday morning, there were233 wildfires burning in the province, with 3,422firefighters and other personnelcurrently responding to those fires.

Meanwhile, the number of evacuation orders and alerts in the province has been steadily falling. As of Monday, there were 3,927 properties on evacuation order compared to close to 7,000 two weeks ago.

The number of properties on evacuation alert in that time has dropped from more than 16,000 to 6,255 on Monday.

Wildfire officials are warning that even though crews are making progress, the wildfire season is still ongoing.

The service says the fire burning near Penticton, which started on Saturday, is suspected to be human caused.

"We are still in August here, and things are still fairly dry out there. So it's a reminder to everyone to just be really cautious with any activities they're taking on," said Tyler McDonald, a fire information officer.

A campfire banremains in place for the region around Kamloops.

Controlled burns

One of the many ways crews can help subdue a wildfire is by lighting controlled burns to help control the intensity of the fire.

Fire information officerForrest Tower says one such large planned ignitionis set to take place at the White Rock Lake fire on Monday.

Tower says that has created some concernamong nearby residents.But he told CBC Newsthat although controlled burns can initially produce a lot of smoke, they're nothing to worry about.

"It really keeps the fire from being able to move through that area in any further burning periods.And, so, there's a lot of benefits to it. And one of them is reduce smoke, but also to keep a lot more trees alive," he said.

In terms of the White Rock Lake fire, a controlled burn is one of the safest tactics to help the fire going into the fall months, Tower said.

It remains one of the largest active fires in B.C., at 813 square kilometres in size as of Monday.