Okanagan wildfires prompt evacuation alerts
The occupants of nearly 1,000 homes have either been forced to evacuate or must be prepared to leave at a moment’s notice as wildfires rip through the Okanagan.
A lightning storm earlier this week sparked multiple wildfires, including one major blaze that has grown to 10 square kilometres.
“Things are quite busy right now and the situation down there is pretty volatile,” said Kevin Skrepnek, the B.C. Wildfire Service’s chief spokesman.
“The Okanagan is our main area of concern, given that we’ve got that cluster of fires between Kelowna and Penticton, and given how close a lot of those fires are to communities,” he said from Kamloops.
Some 123 fires are burning across the province, of which 41 are in the Kamloops Fire Centre, which includes the Okanagan. There are also significant wildfires raging in central and southeast B.C.
The service is redistributing crews across the province to fight the fires. It will also pull back about 200 firefighters it sent to help with wildfires in Ontario and Quebec earlier than expected, returning them to B.C. by midway through next week, said Skrepnek.
The flames have prompted the regional districts of Okanagan- Similkameen and Central Okanagan to issue evacuation orders for 81 properties, among them two campgrounds at Okanagan Lake Provincial Park and at least one winery.
Campers at the park were allowed to return temporarily on Friday to retrieve their property after a frantic evacuation on Wednesday night.
The region is still open for business and has many spots that are safe for tourists, said Erick Thompson, information officer for Okanagan-Similkameen’s emergency operation centre.
More than 800 homes in the Central Okanagan district are under evacuation alert, meaning residents must be ready to leave suddenly if the situation deteriorates.
Both districts have opened reception centres. Those under evacuation alert are getting ready to leave, said Maria Lee, public information officer for the district’s emergency operation centre.