More ordered out from Westside Road
A new evacuation order has been issued for people on more than 600 properties along Westside Road.
The coverage area extends from Westshore Estates, which was already on evacuation order, south to Killiney Beach, including Ewings Landing.
“Residents in this extended evacuation area have until 1 p.m. (Friday) afternoon to return and gather belongings and all must leave the area by 1 p.m.,” states the order issued by Central Okanagan Emergency Operations.
“As this area was previously on evacuation alert, most residents should be prepared to leave their properties and be away from homes for an extended period of time and report to Emergency Social Services” at 1480 Sutherland Rd. in Kelowna, the order states.
The area at the far northwest corner of Okanagan Lake is threatened by an extension of the White Rock Lake fire, which destroyed homes and buildings in Monte Creek between Vernon and Kamloops on Thursday night.
Earlier this week, only about half the people covered by the Westshore Estates evacuation order had left their properties. But Wayne Carson, who represents the North Westside electoral area with the Central Okanagan Regional District, says compliance has increased substantially.
"It looks like a lot more people have finally taken notice and pulled out of there," Carson said in an interview.
And he expects, given Thursday night’s devastation in the Monte Creek area, that people in the expanded evacuation order area along Westside Road will have left their homes by Friday.
“It's really important for people to realize, as they’ve been told, that there’s no way fire crews can drop retardant or water on their properties if people have refused to leave,” said Carson, the area's former fire chief. “Water is 10 pounds a gallon, and I believe retardant is 11 pounds a gallon. And it’s coming down from 500 to 1,000 feet at least 120 miles an hour, so it could easily kill someone if it hit them.”
As of mid-afternoon Friday, winds were blowing briskly from the south, which Carson hoped would keep flames away from Westside Road homes.