British Columbia's summer wildfire season is just getting under way and already there's a problem near one of the interior's largest cities. A fire is burning near the popular tourist destination of Kamloops.

"#BCWildfire is assisting @KamFire with a highly visible wildfire in the Batchelor Heights area of #Kamloops," reads a June 21 message that B.C. Wildfire Service posted on Twitter. "Ground personnel and air support have been deployed."

According to a subsequent message, the fire has covered 60 hectors. Photographs shared there show the fire burning very close to people's homes. The fire is however "not expected to grow," according to B.C. Wildfire Service.

"Crews will be working over night," another message reads.

B.C.'s 2017 wildfire season was the worst in generations. It "dwarfed the historic records for area burned in British Columbia at well over a million hectares, or 12,000 square kilometres," read a July 2017 government media release. "The effects on people, wildlife and our forest economy will be felt for many years to come.

"Consider also that 2017 was the driest year ever recorded in many parts of B.C.—by a significant margin, according to Environment Canada," it continued. "Penticton, Vernon, Kamloops, Kelowna and Cranbrook all had their driest summer since records have been kept."

Yesterday (June 21), the provincial government banned open burns larger than a campfire in the area around Kamloops.

"Anyone conducting Category 2 or Category 3 open burns at elevations above 1,200 metres—which is currently permitted within the Kamloops Fire Centre—must extinguish those fires by noon on June 22," reads a government media release. "These types of open burns are already prohibited at elevations below 1,200 metres.

"This prohibition will remain in effect until Oct. 15, 2018, or until the public is otherwise notified."

The government's July 2017 release noted that that year's fires were due, "in large part," to climate change.