Large wildfire flares overnight west of Kamloops as more help on the way

More help is on the way for wildfire crews battling the 250 blazes now burning in British Columbia.

Emergency Management BC says a crew of 34 specialists from Australia is set to bolster the 208 out-of-province personnel working alongside more than 3,000 firefighters and other specialists on B.C.’s fire lines.

Teams from B.C., Alberta, Quebec, Mexico and members of the Armed Forces are already deployed on some of the more than three dozen blazes the BC Wildfire Service says are either immediately threatening or highly visible.

One of those, a 120-square kilometre fire west of Kamloops, flared overnight forcing the closure of Highway 97C between Ashcroft and the Highland Valley copper mine.

The road has since reopened, but the wildfire service warns increased fire activity means the route could close again with little or no notice.

Evacuation orders are in effect for just over 3,700 properties across the province, while alerts cover about 18,000 more as wildfires have charred nearly 4,200 square kilometres of trees, bush and grassland since the start of fire season on April 1.

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