Fire jumps to 153 hectares
Casey Richardson - Jul 12, 2025 / 7:22 pm | Story: 561231
A new fire has popped out near Eastgate
Photo: BCWS
A new fire has popped out near Eastgate
UPDATE: 7:22 p.m.
A wildfire burning south of Princeton has ballooned in size this evening.
The fire, located near Placer Creek and the Eastgate community has grown to 153 hectares in the past two hours from a previous 40 hectares in size.
The BCWS is reporting there are currently no area restrictions on the fire, which is believed to have been human caused and remains burning out of control.
Fire information officer Cassidy Martin said resources sent to this fire were redirected to the August Lake wildfire near Princeton, which was a high priority given that it's an iinterface fire.
She said the Placer Creek fire is not an interface fire.
"There's no structures or infrastructure like roads or anything threatened," Martin said.
She said there are still helicopters monitoring the Placer Creek fire and firefighting crews will return to it at some point.
UPDATE: 4:32 p.m.
A wildfire out near Placer Creek and the Eastgate community has grown to 40 hectares in size, as of BC Wildfire Service's late afternoon update.
BCWS aerial crews and ground resources are working on actioning the fire.
The Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen and Upper Similkameen Indian Band are engaged, with the Lower Similkameen Indian Band stating they will be providing support if needed.
People are asked to stay away from these areas and let crews do their work.
Have any photos or video? Send them in to
news@castanet.net
UPDATE: 3:40 p.m.
BC Wildfire Service Fire Information Officer Cassidy Martin said aerial resources are already overhead of the wildfire out near the Eastgate community on Saturday afternoon.
Ground crews are on their way to Placer Creek.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation, as it is newly sparked.
Martin added that while it is easy to assume with not much lightning in the area that the fire is human caused, people can start wildfires in several ways, either by accident or intentionally.
"Just a reminder that not all human caused wildfires are malicious or are kind of negligent in nature," she added.
"Human caused fire simply could be like a spark from a dirt bike or an accidental pole falling down. Anything that's man made or human made that makes it such a human cause."
Residents are reminded download the BCWS mobile app for up-to-date fire information and being able to include a photo in when reporting a wildfire or signs of one.
"Once again, the public did a great job with sending in fire reports. Just a reminder that you can send a photo when you go through the app or the dashboard," Martin said.
If you see a wildfire or signs of one, report it by calling 1-800-663-5555, *5555 on a mobile device, or through the BC Wildfire Service app.
ORIGINAL: 2:38 p.m.
Another wildfire has started in the Similkameen Valley, out near Placer Creek and the Eastgate community on Saturday afternoon.
This follow two fires that were sparked in the Ashnola area on Friday, one of which is already under control.
According to BC Wildfire Service, the wildfire is still spot sized, estimated at 0.009 hectares and remains out of control.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation and details are limited at this point.
Castanet will update this story as more information become available.