People living in the communities of Golden, Invermere and Radium Hot Springs may notice smoke in the air as a result of a wildfire burning on the edge of Banff National Park in Alberta.

The size of the fire is estimated at 5,000 hectares and it’s burning about 75 kilometres northeast of Golden, British Columbia. This fire is being managed jointly by Parks Canada and wildfire crews from the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Resource Development in Alberta.

Smoky conditions are expected to continue as a result of this wildfire and weather conditions in the coming days. Any growth in the size of this fire may increase the amount of smoke seen in the area.

British Columbia’s Wildfire Management Branch is currently responding to three remote wildfires in the Columbia Region. The largest is a person-caused wildfire on the south shore of Kinbasket Lake, which is estimated at 30 hectares. Airtankers are supporting ground crews at these incidents. No communities or structures are threatened at this time.

Every person-caused fire is preventable. These types of wildfire incidents tie up valuable firefighting resources and may delay our crews responding to a naturally occurring fire, or limit the ability to deploy them to other areas where their help may be needed.

The fire danger rating in the majority of the Southeast Fire Centre is currently "high", with pockets of “extreme” fire danger near Invermere, Nakusp, Grand Forks, Revelstoke and near the Mica Dam.

The continuing hot and dry weather that’s forecast for the region means that forest fuels will remain dry. There is a serious wildfire risk in the Southeast Fire Centre, so extreme caution must be exercised when using campfires.

On July 2, 2014, the Southeast Fire Centre prohibited all open fires. Specifically,  prohibited activities include:

• the burning of any waste, slash or other materials
• stubble or grass fires of any size over any area
• the use of fireworks, sky lanterns or burning barrels of any size or description

The Southeast Fire Centre would like to thank the public for reporting wildfires in the region and for using fire safely during this period of elevated fire danger.

The Southeast Fire Centre extends from the U.S. border in the south to the Mica Dam in the north and from the Okanagan Highlands and Monashee Mountains in the west to the B.C.-Alberta border in the east. This area includes the Selkirk and Rocky Mountain resource districts.

For information on air quality, including smoke forecasts for Western Canada, visit the BC Air Quality website: www.bcairquality.ca/bluesky/west/index.html

To report a wildfire or unattended campfire, call 1 800 663-5555 toll-free or *5555 on a cellphone.

For the latest information on current wildfire activity, burning restrictions, road closures and air quality advisories, go to: http://www.bcwildfire.ca

You can also follow the latest wildfire news on:

• Twitter at http://twitter.com/BCGovFireInfo
• Facebook at http://facebook.com/BCForestFireInfo

Media Contacts:

Jordan Turner
Fire Information Officer
Wildfire Management Branch
Southeast Fire Centre
250 365-4056