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Oliver wildfire grows overnight, deemed human caused

Osoyoos Indian Band declares evacuation alert for two dozen homes
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Helicopters were dropping water on the fire near Oliver almost immediately. One local woman credits their quick action for saving her home seen here. (Silvia Jade Facebook)

The wildfire in Oliver grew overnight to 45 hectares and is deemed human caused, said BC Wildfire Service.

On Sunday night, the Osoyoos Indian Band put more than 25 homes on evacuation alert.

The RDOS’s emergency operations is supporting the Osoyoos Indian Band and has set up a reception centre at the Oliver Recreation Centre.

The grass fire started around 4:20 p.m. on July 4.

Right away, BC Wildfire and Oliver Fire Department began battling the the Wolfcub Creek wildfire, located approximately five kilometres northeast of town, off McKinney Road and Tucelnuit Drive on Osoyoos Indian Band (OIB) land.

The blaze sparked and quickly spread to eight hectares in size and was classified as ‘out of control.’

Residents of Oliver have been taking to Facebook to thank the quick actions and hard work of air and ground firefighters.

Air bombers, helicopters with water buckets and ground firefighters worked hard to gain control of the fire.

By 8 p.m., the Oliver Fire Department confirmed a perimeter guard has been laid around the Wolfcreek fire.

BC Wildfire remained on scene, however, local crews returned to their station last night.

Residents are expected to see a lot of smoke in the area this morning.

The Penticton Western News will update this story as soon as information become available.

READ MORE: Crews get upper hand on wildfire burning near town of Oliver

To report a typo, email: editor@pentictonwesternnews.com.

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Monique Tamminga

About the Author: Monique Tamminga

Monique brings 20 years of award-winning journalism experience to the role of editor at the Penticton Western News. Of those years, 17 were spent working as a senior reporter and acting editor with the Langley Advance Times.
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