Mt. Eneas fire intensifies
Fire between Peachland and Summerland doubles in size to 1,000 hectares
Highway 97 between Peachland and Summerland was closed again briefly Thursday evening after the Mount Eneas fire doubled in size to 1,000 hectares.
Fuelled by winds, the growing blaze also prompted another round of evacuations, this time on Garnet Valley Road north of Summerland, bringing to 86 the number of properties threatened by fire.
Evacuees filled the emergency reception centre set up at the Summerland Curling Rink on Thursday night.
Heather Norrish was there with her dog, which she was leaving with her daughter Shalyn.
“I had to leave my bees, chickens and cows behind,” said Norrish.
Her son and husband decided to stay behind on their property and help the firefighters battle the wildfire.
“It’s really awful. This one came on so fast. But we did this last year, so we knew how to pack,” she said.
Members of the RCMP delivered evacuation notices and assisted with the evacuation.
Even evacuees electing not to take advantage of emergency social services are still requested to register.
Thursday evening an additional evacuation alert was issued for Garnet Valley Road between Jones Flat Road and Wildhorse Road.
Questions can be directed to the District of Summerland wildfire emergency line at 250-486-3765.
Around 30 people slept at the emergency reception centre set up at the Penticton Community Centre Wednesday night following the first wave of evacuations.
Those evacuees came from the 43 properties evacuated north of Summerland including Okanagan Lake Provincial Park and the North Beach area.
There have been no official reports yet of any structures lost.
Highway 97 had reopened to single-lane traffic in both directions as of press deadline Thursday at 9 p.m.
The blaze was sparked by a lightning Tuesday night, and was one two fires of note in the South Okanagan as of Thursday afternoon that shared the same ignition source.
The other was the 80-hectare Mount Conkle fire, which originated about eight kilometres southwest of Summerland near Shingle Creek Road.
It prompted the District of Summerland to order the evacuation of 40 properties on Garnet Valley Road and two properties on Callan Road, and the Penticton Indian Band to issue an evacuation alert for 13 properties on Big Valley and Shingle Creek roads.
Local states of emergency have also been declared as a precautionary measure by the PIB, District of Summerland and Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen.
To the north, some homes on Lakeshore Road in Kelowna were under an evacuation alert as a result of the Good Creek fire in nearby Okanagan Mountain Provincial Park.
The fire, burning in the same area as a 2003 blaze that gobbled up 230 homes, was listed at 400 hectares as of Thursday afternoon, while smaller fires in West Kelowna had been all but snuffed out.
And in the Similkameen, crews were still working Thursday on the 150-hectare Placer Mountain fire about 37 kilometres south of Princeton.
All of the fires in the region are now being handled by a single BC Wildfire Service incident command team to better co-ordinate resources.
For the latest fire updates, visit www.pentictonherald.ca.