Firefighting aircraft and personnel are currently battling a blaze just northeast of Penticton that's been dubbed the "Kerr Creek" wildfire.
It is one of several local blazes suspected to be caused by last evening's electrical storm, but this particular fire may well be the most important. According to BC Wildfire Service fire information officer Taylor MacDonald, "There are a lot of aerial resources on this fire at this time."
The aircraft include four Air Tractor AT-802A's owned by Penticton-based Conair Aerial Firefighting. Commonly known as "skimmers," the aircraft, as of late this afternoon, were scooping water from Okanagan Lake at approximately Three Mile Beach, circling to gain altitude, and disappearing over the ridge directly east of the Campbell Mountain Landfill.
PentictonNow watched at least a half-dozen round trips, each of which took approximately 15 minutes.
MacDonald said that four BCWS personnel are on the scene already, and 19 more are expected to arrive later this evening. She added that air tankers also responded, though PentictonNow did not see any in the air between 4:00 and press time.
The fire is currently one hectare in size.
