100 Mile House Fire-Rescue was called out to a small grassfire in the Horse Lake Road area.
The fire began yesterday (August 16th), at around 1:30pm at the side of the road, where crews set up a wet line and put out the fire before reaching a large field.
As for what the cause is, Fire Chief Roger Hollander believes it’s human caused.
“When we say human caused, it doesn’t necessarily mean arson or intentionally set.” says Hollander.
“At these temperatures in August, obviously things are died out, and we’re in a provincial fire ban. Sometimes it’s just a hot exhaust from a vehicle that’s sitting at the side of the road, or an ATV that could start a grassfire.”
Hollander added that the fire took around an hour to extinguish, with most of that time being crews applying water in a way where the fire won’t reignite.
He says windy conditions can sometimes do that and if fuels aren’t completely suppressed and soaked.
It’s important to be aware of your surroundings, especially with cigarettes and extinguishing them properly, where you’re parking a vehicle with a hot exhaust, as Hollander says they have enough to deal with from mother nature.
There is still a category 1 fire prohibition in the Cariboo that includes all campfires, with more information about the ban and other restrictions on BC Wildfire Service’s website here.
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