The Testalinda Creek wildfire near Oliver is now mapped at 4,295 hectares in size.

Site information officer Heather Rice with the B.C. Wildfire Service reports the growth is partly due to increased fire activity on Friday and Saturday as winds picked up, but also because crews have had the chance to “have a more accurate look on the ground and from the air” as smoke conditions have improved.

Rice says the fire was stable overnight, and firefighters’ focus remains the northwest flank, in the Reid Creek area.

There are no changes to evacuation orders in the Fairview Road neighbourhood (Reed Creek) and evacuation alerts for residents to the west and south of the town.

Oliver did not receive as much rain as communities in the Central and North Okanagan, but Rice says “the rain does help a significant amount with dampening forest fuels. The wind in combination sometimes counteracts that, though, as it speeds up drying, but it certainly helps.”

Source: Castanet