Wildfire slows highway traffic between Peachland and Summerland in B.C.

FILE PHOTO: Highway 97 reopened to single-lane alternating traffic with a RCMP escort on Wednesday evening after being closed earlier in the day. (Shutterstock)

SUMMERLAND, B.C. — A 50-hectare wildfire has slowed highway traffic between Summerland and Peachland in British Columbia’s southern Interior.

Highway 97 reopened to single-lane alternating traffic with a RCMP escort on Wednesday evening after being closed earlier in the day.

The blaze is not threatening any homes.

The B.C. Wildfire Service has three helicopters and more than 40 ground crews working roughly eight kilometres southwest of Summerland.

The suspected cause is lightning.

The wildfire service says crews responded to seven new lightning-caused fires in the Cariboo Fire Centre, located in the province’s central Interior, between Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon.

It says two are in the Quesnel Lake area, and the largest is a two-hectare blaze located on the northwest side of the lake.

It adds there are two incidents east of Highway 97 and south of Williams Lake, including one that is not likely to spread beyond existing boundaries.

The wildfire service says ground crews have been assigned to all the wildfires and will be supported by aviation resources as needed.