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UPDATE: Investigators complete scene examination of Lake Country fire

Blaze near the Lake’s subdivision was quickly doused by local crews and BC Wildfire Wednesday night
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Update: 4:13 p.m.

Fire investigators say a fire in Lake Country Wednesday night appears to be human caused but the exact origin of the fire is undetermined.

A Kelowna RCMP officer attended to the scene of the fire that occurred near the Lake’s subdivision this morning and met with BC Wildfire Centre fire origin and cause specialists as well as the Lake Country fire chief to begin their investigation and assessment.

RCMP say the scene examination has now been completed and it’s believed to be human caused, however they are currently unable to determine the exact causal factors.

Investigators say they are looking at information compiled from previous fire incidents in order to determine whether this most recent fire is associated to previous incidents in any way.

RCMP urge anyone with information or if you witnessed any suspicious activity in the area and have not yet spoken to police to please contact the Lake Country RCMP at 250-766-2288. Or remain anonymous by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477, leaving a tip online at www.crimestoppers.net or by texting your tip to CRIMES (274637) ktown.

Original:

The RCMP and the Lake Country Fire Department are investigating a small, human-caused fire near the Lake’s subdivision late Wednesday night.

Crews were able to get the grass fire under control quickly last night after responding to the blaze just after 9 p.m. It was located in a steep drainage corridor between East Ridge and Lake Hill Drive.

Both the Lake Country Fire Department as well as B.C. Wildfire crews were called in to work the fire which was brought under control in about an hour.

Lake Country fire chief Steve Windsor says the fire was human caused and they will be back in the area today to try and see how it started.

“There’s no other reason for it that we can come across at this point” said Windsor. “There was no lightning and no vehicles so it kind of defaults to man-caused.

Windsor said his department has been called to two different situations this week where people have had fires, despite the campfire ban and he’s surprised with the carelessness of some people.

“We’re still getting people out there that are having bonfires and burning grass,” he said. “People still don’t seem to get that it’s extremely dry out there. All it takes is a bit of wind.”

The investigation into the cause of the fire is ongoing but early reports from the fire chief point to it being human-caused.

Meanwhile it appears Jack Seaton Park is set to re-open after the Lake Country park has been closed since the Okanagan Centre fire earlier this year.

The park was damaged after it was used as a staging area for the battle against the Okanagan Centre fire.

District officials will tour the park today and make a decision. The ball parks are not expected to re-open.