UPDATE: 5:53 p.m.
Despite initial reports from the U.S. Forest Service today that the Diamond Creek wildfire had reached over 4,000 hectares in size, the B.C. Wildfire Service is reporting that the blaze is only 2,030 hectares.
That91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ™s according to B.C. Wildfire mapping efforts from Thursday, but fire information officer Jody Lucius said that could be updated Friday night or Saturday morning.
Lucius couldn91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ™t account for the differences between the discrepancies between the two forestry services, but said the U.S. service is likely estimating without the use of aerial mapping.
At last estimate, the fire is about 20 kilometres south of Flat Top Mountain, just east of Beaver Creek and at the perimetre of the 2006 Tatoosh burn to the east.
Lucius said B.C. Wildfire has been working over the last few weeks with the U.S. service to monitor the situation before it entered Canada, but said there haven91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ™t been major efforts to fight the fire.
Even now, Lucius said the fire is far bigger than the typical fire in its second or third day, so crews have still been working to gauge the fire at this point to determine their approach.
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ORIGINAL
The Diamond Creek fire continues to burst into Canada, with the U.S. Forest Service estimating the fire to be over 4,000 hectares in size just in B.C.
On the USFS Incident Information System website, the fire is estimated at a total of 10,000 acres (4,047 hectares) on the Canadian side of the border, compared to just under 60,000 acres (23,793 hectares) on the U.S. side.
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That91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ™s a growth of over 2,000 hectares on each side of the border 91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ” more than doubling in size in Canada 91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ” and the USFS website indicates the service is continuing to work with the B.C. Wildfire Service on the blaze.
The B.C. Wildfire Service told Black Press that no update has been prepared for the media, so far.
The fire, believed to be human-caused, is believed to have cost $8 million in damage for the USFS so far, and is blowing thick smoke into the Similkameen Valley.
Black Press will update with more information upon receiving an update from the B.C. Wildfire Service.
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