The Pear Lake Wildfire is now approximately 73,217 hectares in size.
Fire Information Officer Paula Walbauer said today (July 30) they expect a strong inversion to come through this morning reducing their visibility for aircraft which should break around 11 am depending on our temperatures that will reach 27 degrees this morning.
“It’s likely that fire behavior will increase this afternoon once this inversion breaks and high level cloudiness is expected to form today with a cold front expected to arrive over the complex on Saturday. Our fuels remain heavily impacted by drought throughout the area and are highly susceptible to that increase fire behavior.”
Walbauer said yesterday (July 29) the fire activity remained elevated and there was growth along the northwest and northeast flanks.
“Fire behavior still challenged containment efforts later in the day as the sun opened up and warmed up our fire fuels. Yesterday (Wednesday) the first phase of the planned ignition operation north of Clinton, along the west side of Highway 97 was completed and we will look to complete the remaining sections as long as conditions remain favorable.”
BC Wildfire Service (BCWS) said this ignition will support with containment efforts to safeguard property and infrastructure by burning to existing and constructed fuel control lines.
They added this operation will remove the fuels between the main fire and the identified control lines while bringing the fire to safe and effective working ground for crews and equipment.
There are 174 firefighting personnel working on the Pear Lake wildfire along with 22 helicopters, 52 pieces of heavy equipment and 200 structure personnel.
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