UPDATE: 11:50 a.m. Sept. 7:

BX-Swan Lake Fire Chief Bill Wacey said the Friday afternoon blaze at the end of Lochdale Road took crews about four hours to extinguish. 

Wacey said Saturday morning that he was preparing to return to the scene to begin an investigation into the cause of the fire, which sent a thick black plume of smoke in the air between Swan Lake and Highway 97 around 3:30 p.m. Sept. 6. 

He said the fire burned piles of timber and lumber, some pallets, and "thousands of hub caps that have been collected for many years," as well as a small shed, a couple of old cars and tires.

"It's quite a mess out there," Wacey said, adding the blaze was right up against the lake in a marsh area. "We're not even 100 per cent sure of everything that was in the fire. Between the small shed that was there and the amount of material in there, we couldn't get close enough to it, so it was kind of a surround and drown scenario."

Wacey said he called in an excavator to tear apart the pile so that it could be fully extinguished. 

The fire chief said the pile of burning material posed a challenge for BX crews, which is why firefighters from Armstrong, Coldstream and Vernon were called to assist. A total of 15 BX firefighters, four from Armstrong with a tender unit, five from Vernon with an engine, and four from Coldstream worked on the fire.

Wacey said the help from neighbouring departments was much appreciated. 

"It's nice to be able to depend on your partners when the need arises."

Wacey pointed out that conditions are dry, and people need to exercise caution to avoid sparking fires. 

"We did get that rain a week or so back, but my understanding is it was only 27 millimetres, so at the end of the day we're still really dry out there, and it's nice to have really nice weather in September but people have to be very, very cautious with everything they're doing, even in their own property."

ORIGINAL: 

BX-Swan Lake firefighters are battling a brush blaze that has spread to a shed near the lake.

Crews were called to the fire shortly before 3:30 p.m.

While initially reported as bushes on fire, the blaze has spread to a shed with flammable materials inside, as well as vehicles.

Lochdale Road at the north end of Vernon is closed due to a reported shed fire with vehicles and flammables inside. Large plume of smoke seen a few minutes ago.

— Vernon Morning Star (@VernonNews)

Lots of smoke can be seen in the area.

BX has called for mutual aid from Armstrong and manpower from Coldstream.

RCMP is also on scene.