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Planned ignition for West Kelowna fire postponed due to conditions

Varying amounts of rain that fell yesterday will contribute to decreased fire behaviour
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UPDATE: 4:40 p.m.

The aerial ignition that was planned for this afternoon in the Hidden Creek area of the McDougall Creek Wildfire has been postponed as conditions haven91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ™t been favourable.

The situation will be reassessed on Thursday. If conditions are favourable tomorrow then the operation would be less than ten hectares in size.

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Light rain that fell across the Central Okanagan on Tuesday helped to decrease fire behaviour and spread on the McDougall Creek blaze.

Environment Canada is forecasting sunny skies with cloudy periods on Wednesday afternoon and temperatures between 20 and 24 C.

Given the current conditions, there is potential for a planned aerial ignition to occur this afternoon in the Hidden Creek area of the McDougall Creek Wildfire. This would be less than 10 hectares in size and will only occur if the weather conditions are favourable.

BC Wildfire crews will continue working on mop-up objectives, patrols and extinguishing of hotspots along the west and south flanks of the blaze in addition to the continued construction of guard and contingency lines.

A direct attack will take place on the west side of the fire, east of Hidden Creek Forest Service Road. According to BC Wildfire, a direct attack is conducted on low-intensity wildfires that pose minimal risk to the safety of firefighters.

Temperatures are expected to increase Thursday and Friday into the mid to upper 20s.

The wildfire which sparked Aug. 15 and grew out-of-control by Aug. 17 remains at an estimated 13,940 hectares in size.

There are still 4,858 properties on evacuation alert and 380 on evacuation order.

READ MORE: Severe drought conditions expand in British Columbia

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Jen Zielinski

About the Author: Jen Zielinski

I am a broadcast journalism graduate from BCIT and hold a bachelor of arts degree in political science and sociology from Thompson Rivers University. I enjoy volunteering with local organizations, such as the Okanagan Humane Society.
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