Firefighters with the South Country Fire Departments have gained control of a wildfire in the Baynes Lake area.
Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK) officials said 15 firefighters and eight pieces of apparatus responded to the fire at Strawberry Hill on Tuesday evening.
“We have firefighters from Baynes Lake, Elko and Jaffray on scene and they’ve done an excellent job getting the fire contained before it spread further,” said Elk Valley & South Country Rural Fire & Rescue Chief Michael Hockley. “With the winds picking up this evening, this could easily have been a much more serious situation and I can’t say enough about the work of our team tonight.”
RDEK officials said crews were able to limit the fire to about one hectare in size.
Firefighters will remain on-site until the area has fully cooled down.
RDEK officials said the cause of the fire is unknown at this time.