Tankers and firefighters are responding to the new fire south of Kamloops, while the Pear Lake fire northwest of Kamloops continues to grow
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Lighting sparked a new wildfire in just south of Kamloops on Saturday.
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The fire, close to Jacko Lake in an area overlooking the Thompson-Okanagan Valley, grew to about half a kilometre squared in just a few hours’ time and is considered out of control. As of Saturday afternoon, it is burning in areas mostly containing grassy fuels and no structures are at imminent risk, nor have any evacuation advisories been issued.
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Nineteen firefighters are working on the ground, according to the B.C. Wildfire Service, while multipe air tankers and three helicopters are also making runs to fight the blaze, and fire retardant has been dropped along the north and east flanks of the fire.
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Sunrise
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Meanwhile, the Pear Lake fire to the northwest of Kamloops — now the largest active wildfire in the province, at nearly 1650 square kilometres — triggered an evacuation order for some nearby residents on Saturday.
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The Thompson-Nicola Regional District has ordered more than 80 properties in the area of Cache Creek, Blue Sky Country and Bonaparte Plateau evacuated because of the fire, with many more properties in Bonaparte under an evacuation alert.
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B.C. WILDFIRES MAP
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QUICKLINKS
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• Latest updates on fire activity in British Columbia: bcwildfire.ca
• Current wildfire travel advisories: drivebc.ca
• Info for residents/evacuees impacted by wildfires: emergencyinfobc.gov.bc.ca
• Our newsroom’s coverage of the 2026 wildfires: vancouversun.com/tag/wildfires
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