Members of the Falkland Fire Department will assist efforts to control the Christie Mountain wildfire near Penticton.

Two firefighters, Nathan Martin and Captain Chad Graham, have taken a water tender down to assist the BC Wildfire Service in their fight with the 1,400-hectare blaze burning about six kilometres from the community of Okanagan Falls.

The Falkland firefighters will use the truck to shuttle water to the site of the blaze.

Wednesday, Aug. 19 was a challenging day for crews battling the fire, as dense smoke made it difficult for air tankers to target the fire. Thursday brought a more optimistic view from the fire line as it was hoped that cooler weather would slow the blaze. More than 300 homes have been evacuated and thousands more are under an evacuation alert. One house was lost to the blaze.

-With files from Jen Zielinski

Like us on and follow us on