Merritt lifts wildfire area closure as fire risk eases

The City of Merritt is lifting its closure of the forested areas around the community as wildfire risk in the region has eased.

The city said the closure will be lifted at 12:00 p.m. noon on Friday (Aug. 28), after the area has experienced cooler temperatures with some precipitation in recent days. The closure was initially put in place on Aug. 10, due to hot and dry conditions presenting extreme wildfire risk at the time.

“Regional and local wildfire conditions have improved significantly since the area closure was implemented. In addition, the heavy smoke that previously reduced visibility and could have delayed the detection of new fire starts is no longer a significant concern,” said city officials.

This comes the northern and southeastern parts of the Ainslie Creek wildfire become less active, allowing for some evacuation alerts and orders to be eased.

“With these improved conditions, the additional restrictions provided by the area closure are no longer considered necessary, and normal public access to these areas may resume,” said the City of Merritt.

The forecast for the Merritt area calls for temperatures to stay lower, with higher relative humidity, which will moderate the fire’s behaviour. However, it will likely not be enough to completely put out the fire.

“If this rain happens it will lower fire behaviour in the short-term but there is no ‘fire ending’ rain in the weather models at this time,” said the BC Wildfire Service (BCWS).

“Fire activity will likely occur in the interior of the wildfire perimeter until winter due to the extreme drought conditions across most of the trees and soil this wildfire is burning in. Fire Behaviour Specialists that are in the field doing wood and soil sampling are having difficulties using their equipment as the drought conditions are so extreme their instruments are having issues calculating the moisture content.”

Even with the restrictions being lifted, the City of Merritt warns that wildfire season is not over yet.

“Wildfire risk remains present throughout the fire season, and conditions can change quickly. Residents and visitors are encouraged to remain vigilant when using forested and recreational areas, use caution with any activity that could cause an ignition, and continue to follow all provincial fire prohibitions and restrictions that remain in effect,” said city officials.

The reopening of Merritt’s forested areas coincides with the BCWS lifting its ban on recreational off-road vehicles in the Kamloops, Coastal and Southeast Fire Centres.