There is a new wildfire of note within the Cariboo Fire Centre.
Fire Information Officer Madison Smith says the wildfire in the Churn Creek Protected Area had seen very low activity, but that changed last (Wednesday) night.
“Every couple of days there was a flight going out there checking on activity and it was always very low activity until yesterday afternoon when there was a big increase in activity.  The fire did push towards the northwest, and the total escape size is estimated at 1,500 hectares.  That area is open grassland, so the fire did see some pretty big fire activity yesterday just ripping through the grasslands.”
Smith says crews had to pull off last night due to the road being compromised from this fire.
She says that fire is now up to almost four thousand hectares in size.
“It was 2,487 hectares in size and then it saw a 1,500 hectare increase yesterday.”
She says the fire is about 80 kilometres southwest of Williams Lake and runs along the Fraser River south of the Gang Ranch.
No communities are being threatened at this time.
She says crews are working on the flanks of the fire to try to get it contained.
While one more fire of note is being added, two others will no longer have that distinction.
“The McKinley Lake wildfire and the Purdy Lake wildfire, as of tomorrow morning so August 6th at 9 am, will not be considered wildfires of note. This is due to the low activity the fires have displayed the last few weeks.”
There are 53 active fires in the Cariboo right now, up from 51 on Wednesday.
17 of those are in the Central Cariboo region, 16 are in the Quesnel zone, there are seven in the Chilcotin, and 13 in the 100 Mile House zone.