New fires, evacuations hit B.C. Interior

An intense lightning storm in the southern Interior of B.C. overnight Thursday sparked an undetermined number of fires andstorm winds fanned older blazes, forcing dozens of residents from their homes.

Fire information officer Jeanne Rucker said crews were trying to get an idea of how many new fires were burning.

"We do have some confirmed fires at this point, but crews are out there right now assessing fires, finding more fires. So it's going to be a day where we will be continually updating numbers," she said.

Crews have already been dispatched to some of the confirmed fires and air tankers have been launched to a fire near the Kamloops airport, she said.

Kelly Lake fire forces evacuation

Meanwhile, a forest fire that has been burning in the mountains of southern B.C. for three weeks has now forcedresidentsof about 52 propertiesfrom their homes.

In recent days, the Kelly Lake fire has doubled in size to nearly 60 square kilometres and is threatening ranches and resorts in the Arden Park and Pear Lake areas north of Pavilion and west of Clinton, about 400 kilometres northeast of Vancouver.

Fire officials said gusty winds caused the fire to grow aggressively on Thursday, crossing Jesmond and High Bar roads.

Just before 10 p.m. PT Thursday, the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District and the Thompson-Nicola Regional District ordered people in the area out of their homes. Affected residents and visitors were told to check in at a reception centre at the Clinton Elementary School.

The cause of the fire is not known and the Forest Service said the blaze remains uncontained despite the work of 49 firefighters and seven helicopters.

Another blaze has ledto an evacuation order affecting about 20 peopleabout 22 kilometres east of Lillooet. About 87 firefighters have been fightingthe 14-square-kilometre Intlpam fire, which started nearly four weeks ago.

Lava Canyon fire forces evacuations

Also just to the north, about a dozen people have been forced out of their homes by the three-week-old 200-square-kilometre Lava Canyon fire burning west of Williams Lake in the West Chilcotin area.

The fire is still completely uncontained even though 83 firefighters and eight helicopters have been assigned to battle the flames.

An evacuation order was issued for the Scum Lake area on Thursday night and an emergency social services centre was set up at the Cariboo Regional District offices in Williams Lake.

There are also a number of road closures in the area, due to the fire. Access will be blocked at about the 40-kilometre mark of the Taseko Lake Road, the junction of the Newton-Whitewater Road and the Chilcotin River, and the junction of Chilko Lake Road and Chilko-Newton Road.