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RCMP say emergency flares used prior to Sicamous forest fire

Police unable to locate those responsible for firing flares in forested area
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A BC Wildfire Service plane drops retardant on the fire. (Joe McCulloch photo)

Sicamous RCMP responded to a report of emergency flares being fired in the vicinity of the Sicamous Creek Falls Trail shortly before a wildfire was sighted nearby.

At approximately 6:30 p.m. on May 29, the RCMP received a call about the flares being fired and, upon reaching the scene, investigating officers noted a plume of smoke rising from a densely-forested and steep slope on the far side of Sicamous Creek.

The fire was burning approximately 200 metres from the nearby Sicamous Creek Mobile Home Park.

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Fire crews from the BC Wildfire Service, as well as the Sicamous and Malakwa Fire Departments, responded and brought the fire under control.

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The area was searched, but the person who fired the flares was not located.

“Lighting flares for a non-emergency purpose is an offence under the Provincial Wildfire Act. A fine of $575 for dropping, releasing a burning substance could be issued to the person responsible,” said Sicamous RCMP Sgt. Murray McNeil.


@SalmonArm
jim.elliot@saobserver.net

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Firefighters are battling a blaze in a forested area above a mobile home park in Two Mile. (Jim Elliot/Salmon Arm Observer)


Jim Elliot

About the Author: Jim Elliot

I’m a B.C. transplant here in Whitehorse at The News telling stories about the Yukon's people, environment, and culture.
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