Harrison Lake boaters impeding efforts of aircraft fighting fires

Efforts to contain a small wildfire burning east of Harrison Lake near Slollicum Creek are being impeded by boaters, officials say.

B.C. Wildfire Service chief information officer Kevin Skrepnek said Sunday that police have been called in to get boaters out of the way of aircraft looking to use the lake to scoop water.

The fire is about 12 kilometres east of the lake, just north of Sasquatch Provincial Park.

“There have been some issues,” Skrepnek said about why the RCMP and officials from the wildfire service were having to clear the area.

The fire is just 0.3 square kilometres and “mostly a ground fire,” but it’s throwing off a lot of smoke and is thus quite visible to people in the area.

The wildfire service believes the fire, discovered Saturday, is human-caused.

Farther east, hundreds of people are being allowed to return to Loon Lake, more than a month after flames forced them from their homes and destroyed dozens of buildings in the community.

The Thompson-Nicola Regional District has lifted an evacuation order for 309 properties in the area, but an alert remains in place, warning residents that they may need to leave again on a moment’s notice.

The evacuation order was issued in mid July when a fire threatened the community northeast of Cache Creek.

Megan Gregory with the regional district says about 40 structures were destroyed by the flames, including vacation properties and permanent homes.

Skrepnek said there were 137 wildfires burning across the province Sunday.