Firefighters in the south country region were able to gain the upper hand on a small wildfire burning near Baynes Lake on Tuesday evening.
Approximately 15 firefighters with the Regional District of East Kootenay, and eight pieces of apparatus, responded to the scene of the fire, which was located at Strawberry Hill in Baynes Lake.
“We have firefighters from Baynes Lake, Elko and Jaffray on scene and they’ve done an excellent job getting the fire contained before it spread further,” explains Michael Hockley, fire chief with Elk Valley and South Country Rural Fire and Rescue. “With the winds picking up this evening, this could easily have been a much more serious situation and I can’t say enough about the work of our team tonight.”
While the fire remained burning on Tuesday evening, fire crews had it contained and remained on site until fully extinguished and cooled.
The cause is currently undetermined.