The 200 ha fire in West Kelowna's Smith Creek area remained relatively quiet overnight with only a few flare-ups, July 18, 2014.

(MARSHALL JONES / iNFOnews.ca)

WEST KELOWNA - Firefighters battling a 200 hectare fire in the Smith Creek neighbourhood of West Kelowna are reporting some good news this morning, saying the few flare-ups during the night were quickly knocked down.

Crews from West Kelowna, Kelowna, Lake Country and B.C. Wildfire Management Branch monitored the fire overnight and are assessing the scope of the battle now that the sun is up again. The latest details about the fire will be available later this morning, according to a press release from the Regional District of Central Okanagan.

Incident Command for the fire will develop a plan of attack for today, taking into consideration weather conditions and other factors. It's expected ground crews and aircraft will continue to aggressively battle the blaze. They'll be working on containment by building fire guards.

RCMP roadblocks are still in place on the perimeter of evacuated areas and a patrols are active.

There are no new evacuation orders or alerts to report and the current 2,500 from almost 1,100 homes are still on evacuation order.

An alert was issued for 150 properties on Lenz Road including the Pinewood Villa Mobile Home Park and from 1898 to 2515 Bartley Road last night. They remain on alert and should be prepared to leave their homes on short notice should the fire grow.

More information showing streets and addresses can be viewed on an evacuation alert and order map at the Central Okanagan Emergency Operations web page.

The Emergency Support Services reception centre at Mount Boucherie Secondary School, 2751 Cameron Road was open overnight, assisting some evacuated residents with food and accommodation needs.   The centre will remain open today to help those residents who have not yet registered.

In order to continue to provide adequate water supplies for the fire-fighting effort, residents living west of the W.R. Bennett Bridge are asked to continue restricting their household water use and not to water outdoors.
All residents on the west side of Okanagan Lake from Peachland, West Kelowna and Westbank First Nation reserves are encouraged to make personal emergency preparations to ensure they are self-sustaining in the event that there is a loss of  electricity for an extended period and that they have enough water for each member of their family.

Emergency response personnel request that the public:

-  Avoid the Smith Creek area so emergency responders can effectively perform their duties.
-  Monitor www.cordemergency.ca, www.facebook.com/CORDEmergency,  or www.twitter.com/CO_Emerg  for confirmed information about the situation.
-  Please only CALL 911 in case of emergency.

News from © iNFOnews, 2014