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Fireball lights up B.C. Interior

From Nelson to Kamloops a large fireball could be seen in the sky on Monday night.
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The sky lit up dramatically across the Interior of B.C. as a large ball of flames headed towards the earth.

Kevin Skrepnek was in Nelson when he felt what seemed similar to a power surge, followed by streetlights ‘shorting out’ at the same time.

“Then, to the east, I saw a reddish fire streak in the sky, headed north,”said Skrepnek.

Initially he said he heard nothing, but about a minute later a massive sound — similar to a rolling thunderclap occurred across the valley, for about five seconds.

“It all happened quite quickly, I didn’t see any ground contact,” he explained.

RCMP Cpl. Dan Moskaluk with the Southeast District said dispatch centre started getting calls around 10:15 p.m. from peoplein Castlegar, Salmo, Creston and Nelson.

“Everybody referenced this fireball object falling from the sky across the horizon in that area,” Moskaluk said, adding thatmany residents in Nelson reported even feeling the ground shake.

It was quickly determined there was little chance of a fire starting, he said.

Residents from Kamloops to Castlegar commented online about observing the incident.

The American Meteor Society said the fireball traveled in a southeast to northwest direction entering the atmosphere near the small city of Boswell near Kootenay Lake and terminated near Meadow Creek.

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