Incident Management Team posted in Merritt to aid Brunswick Complex wildfire response

The Kamloops Fire Centre has established an Incident Management Team based in Merritt to aid wildfire fighters battling the Brunswick Creek and Ainslie Creek wildfires.

The BC Wildfire Service said the Kamloops Fire Centre’s team is working with another Incident Management Team based in Boston Bar.

“Our priorities are to maintain the safety of responders and the public, and to protect communities, critical infrastructure, Highway 1, and cultural values,” said the BCWS.

“We are maintaining 24-hour operations on the complex, including ground crews, structure protection personnel and night-vision equipped helicopters. “

The Ainslie Creek Wildfire has scorched across 15,847 hectares of land, while the Brunswick Creek Wildfire has burned 2,836 hectares, for a combined area of nearly 187 square kilometres.

Fire officials said weekend conditions could offer some short-lived relief before hot, windy weather is expected to return early in the coming week.

“Over the next two days we will see slightly lower temperatures and higher relative humidity, however this does not represent a downturn in conditions, just a two-day slight reprieve,” said the BCWS.

“This will help moderate fire behaviour; however, when steep slopes and gusty wind conditions align, we are likely to see higher activity.”

Wildfire fighters will use the opportunity to make progress in their battle against the fires.

“Today (July 11), ground crews are taking advantage of lower fire behaviour to push ahead on search and destroy missions, hitting any areas of heat north and south along the Highway 1 corridor, and protecting structures and critical infrastructure along the east flank,” said the BCWS.

As of Saturday (July 11), the BCWS has 275 firefighters, 18 helicopters, 53 pieces of heavy equipment and 74 structure protection personnel assigned to the Brunswick Complex.

The BCWS said they are working to protect other buildings and infrastructure threatened but the blazes, but some structures have been lost to the Ainslie Creek Wildfire.

“Crews and structure protection personnel continue to focus on protecting structures along the west flank of the fire in the vicinity of Boothroyd,” said the BCWS.

“Structure protection personnel continue to triage ahead of the fire and are actively applying structure protection to any at-risk values.”

Highway 1 is open to traffic, but lane closures and traffic interruptions are ongoing, with no stopping zones and speed reductions in place near the wildfires. You can see information and updates on Drive BC.

Evacuation orders and alerts are still in place in the areas around the Brunswick Complex wildfires.

The wildfires are behind the recent air quality advisories in Kamloops and the surrounding areas.