McDougall Creek Wildfire

Image Credit: FACEBOOK/Denise Russo

There is no count yet on how many homes have been destroyed by the McDougall Creek Wildfire in West Kelowna.

“The reality of it is, the firefight going on right now is as significant today as it was last night,” West Kelowna Fire Rescue chief Jason Brolund said at a news briefing this morning, Aug. 18. “We need to put our focus there. We need to stop this fire before it continues any further. Then we will get on to the counting and then we will get on to getting people back to their homes when it's safe.”

While he didn't have a count, he did say a significant number of structures were lost

He's expecting the firefighting challenge, which he described as being like 100 years of firefighting in one night, to be as big today.

"Today is going to be a challenging day again," Brolund said. "The winds are stronger than they were yesterday. There are homes burning out there right now and there are homes at risk and we're going to do our best to stop that."

Thunderstorms are forecast of the area this afternoon.

READ MORE: Thunderstorm watch issued for much of the Okanagan

The wildfire only started Tuesday evening about 10 kilometres northwest of West Kelowna, but exploded to an estimated 6,800 hectares overnight, pushing into areas of West Kelowna such as West Kelowna Estates and Rose Valley but no further details were provided about where the homes burned.

Brolund said there were many cases of firefighters risking their lives to save people fleeing the fire and many homes were saved.

While he did suggest some people needed to be rescued because they refused to leave he did not have details.

He did mention one case where people were trapped by the fire when it, and downed power lines, blocked the only road out so firefighters and other emergency officials were at risk while rescuing them.

Others had to be pulled from the waters of Okanagan Lake at Traders Cove but no details were provided.

Major infrastructure, like Rose Valley Elementary School, Rose Valley Fire Hall and the new water treatment plant have not been touched.

Kelowna firefighters are “dug in” in the McKinley Landing area of Kelowna to protect structures there.

At least half a dozen fires have started in Kelowna and Lake Country. Most are small but some in Lake Country are listed at 2 to 4 ha on the BC Wildfire Service website. It's suspected those were sparked by embers crossing Okanagan Lake but that can't be confirmed at this time.

Brolund advised people to do things like remove straw matts from outside their doorways and move other flammable materials away from homes to decrease the risk of embers triggering fires.

More than 3,000 properties have been ordered evacuated on both sides of Okanagan Lake and many thousand more are on evacuation alert. There are evacuee reception centres at Royal LePage Place in West Kelowna, Prospera Place and Salvation Army Church in Kelowna, and Kal Tire Place in Vernon.

More information is available here.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

About 90 firefighters are on the McDougall Creek fire from throughout the region and as far away as Vancouver Island, Brolund said. More are expected by tomorrow.

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