More manpower has been brought in to fight the Terrace Mountain Fire northwest of Vernon and Kelowna.The BC Forest Service says an additional 68 firefighters arrived from Ontario Sunday afternoon to team up with firefighters already working on the two week old human caused blaze.The new arrivals bring the total number of firefighters on the fire to 305. Under the direction of an Ontario Type One Incident Management Team, there are 16 helicopters and 83 pieces of heavy equipment supporting the firefighters.
The Terrace Mountain Fire, which was first reported on July 18th, is now estimated at 7,025 hectares. Winds gusting up to 50 kilometres per hour late Saturday afternoon caused the fire to spread to the southeast by an additional 2,500 hectares. The Forest Service says Sunday's winds have been lighter and aerial reconnaissance reports indicate the fire has not spread significantly.The priority action area of the fire has been the eastern flank where airtankers have been attacking spot fires and laying fire retardant to slow further spread.Smokey conditions have slowed the fire's spread but also made it difficult to accurately map the fire from the air.The fire is now estimated to be 30% contained.2,500 residents are on evacuation order.For more information on evacuations, call the Emergency Operations Centre at (250) 469 8493.
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