The owners of a large cattle ranch south of Kamloops are suing the provincial government, alleging a back burn sparked by firefighters two summers ago killed some of its livestock and destroyed its fencing.
The 11,000-hectare Rossmore Lake wildfire was discovered on July 21, 2023, near Lac Le Jeune. Winds and hot weather pushed the blaze north toward Kamloops, at one point reaching 10 kilometres from city limits. Crews had it under control by the middle of September.
A lawsuit filed in B.C. Supreme Court by the Frolek Cattle Company, which operates a 35,000-acre cattle ranch off Highway 5A south of Kamloops, alleges a back burn in the middle of the Rossmore Lake fire fight caused significant damage to ranch property.
According to the notice of civil claim, the burn was sparked by crews on the Frolek property on Aug. 16 or Aug. 17. The claim alleges the fire was at least 400 metres away at the time.
“The provincial actors then lost control of the back burn, resulting in damage and destruction of much of the plaintiff’s lands, including the loss of timber, forage, fencing and livestock located on the plaintiff’s lands,” the claim states.
“At the time of the provincial actors’ entry onto the plaintiff’s lands to ignite the back burn, there was no wildfire burning on those lands.”
The claim alleges crews were negligent while sparking the back burn.
No dollar amount is set out in the claim, but the Frolek Cattle Company is seeking damages and special damages.
None of the allegations in the claim have been proven in court, and no response has been filed by the province.
