UPDATE: Wildfires outside of Merritt extinguished as blazes near Lytton continue to burn

(UPDATE: July 14 @ 1:00 pm) - A handful of wildfires outside of Merritt that started at the beginning of the weekend have since been extinguished as crews continue to battle blazes around Lytton and Lillooet.

The Largest of the fires is the White Mountain blaze, which is 18km south of Ashcroft and three hectares in size.

The fire is being tackled by an initial attack crew and a unit crew, along with a bulldozer and a water tender

Just north of Spences Bridge are the Teit Creek and Shetland Creek fires, which are both out of control.

As of this morning, the Shetland Creek fire is 0.7 hectares and the Teit Creek blaze is 1.5 hectares in size.

Not far from Lytton is a 1.5-hectare fire that is currently out of control and burning two kilometres south of Stein Valley.

The Mount Martley fire that was spotted on Friday is currently under control and according to the BCWS, one initial attack crew is fighting the blaze that is 0.32 hectares in size.

Up-to-date wildfire information can be found online at this link.

(Original story: July 13 @ 12:45 pm) - The BC Wildfire Service in the Kamloops Fire Centre has had a busy start to the weekend with eight fires popping up since Friday evening.

Half of the fires are believed to have been started by lightning, while the cause of the other four are under investigation.

The majority of the fires are near Lytton and Lillooet, with three blazes close to Merritt and Nicola Lake.

The largest fire is three hectares in size and located north of Lytton after being spotted at White Mountain just before 10 pm Friday.

According to the BCWS, the blaze is displaying rank two and three behaviour and an initial attack crew is on-site with the support of air tankers. A unit crew, bulldozer and water tender are en route.

Also in the area and closer to Lillooet is the Mount Martley fire, a spot-size blaze displaying rank one and two behaviour and being tackled by an initial attack crew with helicopter support.

The Shetland Creek wildfire is located just under eight kilometres north of Spences Bridge and under a hectare in size.

Air tankers are responding to the Shetland Creek fire, with response planning ongoing.

The Teit Creek fire is 5.5 km north of Spences Bridge and response planning is ongoing for the rank one fire.

Not far from the Teit Creek fire is the Murray Creek blaze, which consists of one tree and an attack crew is working on gaining access to the fire.

Over near Merritt, a fire that is 0.009 hectares in size is being held after a suspected lightning strike.

An initial attack crew is responding to that fire, as well as a blaze at Samson Creak that is also being held.

A crew is also tackling a smaller blaze north of Nicola Lake that is out of control and suspected to have been started by lightning.

Up-to-date information can be found online at this link.