BC Wildfire Service crews are hard at work on its fire guards for the Mcdougall Creek Wildfire, burning adjacent to West Kelowna.

Along the west flank, a combination of air and hand ignitions are being used for a 1,300-hectare planned burn between the previously established guard and the burning fire edge from Bear Main Forest Service Road to Mt. Swite Road.

Large amounts of smoke will be visible to the public throughout Sunday due to the planned burn.

Along the south flank, a 100-hectare burn is being completed above Smith Creek and progressing north toward the Powers Creek drainage.

“The purpose of these planned ignition operations is to remove unburnt fuel in an intentional way to secure control lines,” BC Wildfire staff said in a social media post.

“Based on current conditions this unburnt fuel has the potential to burn on its own in a significantly more active way.”

Planned ignitions are a “very useful” tactic in fire suppression and fire management, according to the BC Wildfire Service.

“It allows us to bring the fire perimeter down to control lines and creates a more uniform and continuous fire edge which is easier for crews to use direct attack methods on and extinguish hot spots to strengthen control lines and achieve containment,” staff said.

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“This is also more time-efficient and safer for the crews as they have to spend less time chasing hot spots and patches of free-burning fire in rough terrain.”

The McDougall Creek wildfire is still burning out of control in the backcountry area of West Kelowna. It is an estimated 12,634 hectares and has destroyed dozens of properties in the area.

Some areas remain under evacuation orders and alerts, but residents are slowly being let back into their homes. The most up-to-date information can be found online at the Regional District of Central Okanagan’s emergency operations webpage.