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Aug 16: Insignificant growth today on Elephant Hill fire

150 personnel working on the northern flank of the fire
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Smoke seen from the Elephant Hill fire taken Aug. 4, over a week ago. Tara Sprickerhoff photo.

There was “insignificant growth” on Elephant Hill fire today, says Fire Information Officer Noelle Kekula.

The fire perimeter map from Aug. 13 remains fairly accurate, as the there have been no significant changes, she says.

“Not having an updated map is actually a good news story, it means the fire isn’t really growing,” she says.

Currently, she says, there are 150 personnel working on the northern flank of the fire, the northernmost tip of which is slightly to the east of Little Green Lake.

Fire crews, helicopter and fixed wing support, as required, are being used to action the fire, in preparation for low front expected for Friday.

“We are just preparing for that. Again, working that north flank and that east flank — all sections of the fire — with our crews and ground support and air support. We are working on increasing that control line.”

While there were structures lost due to the fire’s growth over the weekend in the Pressy Lake area, the Thompson-Nicola Regional District has been in the area today assessing the damage, says Kekula.

Related: TNRD working to access areas recently affected by Elephant Hill fire

Those who have lost property will be contacted by the district.

If people are looking for more information on their property, Kekula asks them to call the regional district at 250-377-7188.

When it comes to issuing or downgrading alerts or orders Kekula says they take a number of factors into consideration.

“We have a whole group of people that are studying the weather; studying the dryness of the soil; they are looking at prevailing winds; they are looking where the winds with the forecast may be coming from and what direction; if there is rain in the forecast. We have people studying the science behind this, the rate of spread. There are all these things that they are studying and those are the things we look at before making a recommendation either way.”