1994: 4,000 residents evacuated during The Garnet Fire

July 26, 1994 — Residents in another dozen homes evacuated early this morning joining thousands of others already pushed out since the Garnet fire escalated on Monday afternoon.

Provincial emergency crews evacuated homes in the Smythe Road and Gillies Creek area at 5:15 a.m. near the south end of the fire, which has now scorched 2,200 hectares of land.

About 4,000 people have now registered at the emergency centre based at the Penticton community centre.

Estimates are that as many as a dozen homes, all outside Penticton limits, have burned to the ground.

A provincial emergency team from the Lower Mainland is scheduled to arrive today to help evacuees cope with the stress.

The B.C. Forest Service flew over the area this morning to assess the situation. As of 9 a.m., the fire was tracing its previous path to the south, but also climbing up the Penticton Creek drainage.

“This part of the fire is quite a ways from people’s homes, but we’re still concerned,” forest service spokesman Alan Rasmussen said.

Weather predictions of thunderstorms aren’t helping to ease concerns.

“The whole Penticton district is high to extreme (for fires) and with thunderstorms, we could have fires starting somewhere else,” he said.

“We’re tapped out now as it is.”