Evacuees near West Kelowna wildfire can return home: regional district | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
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Evacuees near West Kelowna wildfire can return home: regional district

Original Publication Date August 24, 2016 - 9:10 AM

WEST KELOWNA, B.C. - Residents forced out of their homes by a wildfire west of Kelowna, B.C., can now return.

The Central Okanagan Regional District says the evacuation order has been lifted for 105 properties near the Bear Creek wildfire, about 10 kilometres north of West Kelowna.

A news release issued by the regional district says Westside Road, the main link between West Kelowna and Vernon, is also open once again, but Bear Creek Provincial Park remains closed until further notice.

The regional district says smoke and flames may still be visible in the area and people returning may find hazards on their properties as a result of the fire.

Rachel Witt, an information officer with the Kamloops Fire Centre, says 49 firefighters are working on the nearly 53-hectare wildfire and it is 85 per cent contained.

Flames broke out late Sunday night, prompting evacuations and road closures, but no homes have been lost.

Witt says another wildfire that was sparked at almost the same time near Okanagan Falls, at the south end of Skaha Lake, covered 16 hectares of grass and bush but is now 100 per cent contained.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2016
The Canadian Press

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