Mother Nature keeps wind at bay for Okanagan firefighters

Smoke has coated the Central Okanagan as a wildfire rages in West Kelowna, and the murky layer is expected to linger.

"We have a pattern over us that's very stagnant— there's very little flow," said Doug Lundquist, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, adding it's likely to stay calm and unseasonably hot in the Valley.

Mercury is expected to hover around 30 C for the remainder of the day, and continue in that vein for the next six to ten days.

Current weather conditions offer a mixed bag for firefighting crews. While there's been no breeze to fan the flames, they've also been given a limited view of what they're working with.

"The fire is in a deep canyon, and with an inversion it's socked in the smoke," said Noelle Kekula, fire information officer, Kamloops Fire Centre.

"That made air support more diffcult in that it limited their ability to lay the retardant lines or bucket."

That challenge aside, crews managed to limit the fire's spread to 39 hectares as of  around 1 p.m., Tuesday.  Additionally,  30 per cent of the fire was considered contained along Westside Road.

Movng forward, overnight patrol crews will be out looking for hotspots and during that stretch weather is expected to once again work in their favour.

"We are anticipating good recovery because of high, overnight humidity," said Kekula.

The  wildfire near Bear Creek Provincial Park  quadrupled in size in the time from when it was reported late Monday night to Tuesday afternoon.

It ultimately forced  550 people from their homes as it moved as close as 400 metres to the nearest house.

While a cause has yet to be established, Mounties have said the blaze is possibly human caused.