Persons of interest probed in connection with wildfire

Investigators have identified persons of interest in the June 30 wildfire that came close to engulfing a Barnhartvale neighbourhood.

Yet another wildfire was started early Friday morning in the Peterson Creek Park area, sending firefighters scrambling to the site to douse the flames.

The fire is the fifth intentionally set blaze in the area in the past month. KTE has reported on previous blazes, which are believed to have been started by youths.

Meanwhile, a fire investigation crew composed of the Kamloops Fire and Rescue, the B.C. Forestry Service and the Kamloops RCMP continue to look into the cause of a brushfire that nearly torched homes in the Barnhartvale area on Tuesday.

While investigators have combed the scene, narrowing the origin of the blaze to just one square metre, a cause still hasn't been determined.

However, the fire is still considered suspicious.

Dan Funk, a fire inspector with the KFR, confirmed there are people of interest regarding the fire, but would only say the RCMP have spoken to the individuals.

With two fires just one week apart in the same area, Funk isn't ruling out they could be related.

"There could very well be a firebug," he told KTW.

On June 23, a similar 3.5-hectare grassfire broke out on Uplands Drive.

Funk is asking residents in the neighbourhood to keep an eye out for any suspicious behavior.

He's also recommending residents implement a neighbourhood fire watch to keep the area safe.

In the end, it took a crew of nearly 60 — from the air and on the ground — to knock down the three-hectare blaze, which is believed to have started near the pumping station on Todd Road before rapidly moving up the gully.

Funk surmised that, in the right conditions, the fire could have been started by something as simple as a lighter or matches.

"In this particular case, we didn't find anything," he said.

By Jeremy Deutsch - Kamloops This Week