The McDougall Creek wildfire as of 10:30 a.m. Friday, Aug. 18, as seen from Downtown Kelowna.
Image Credit: Georgina Whitehouse
August 18, 2023 - 1:40 PM
Residents evacuated from the multiple fires burning in the Central Okanagan describe a chaotic and emotional night fleeing from the McDougall Creek wildfire and later fires in Kelowna.
While most of last night’s evacuees were aware of the fire and directed to evacuation centres in Vernon or West Kelowna, the overnight fires that started in Kelowna had residents shocked and surprised.
A woman named Tammara said she had to flee the community of Wilden last night “with 5 minutes to pack up and go.”
“There were a lot of people watching the fire so it took a lot longer to get out than it should have,” she said. "Now we’re just in limbo.”
Her family was among hundreds evacuated in Kelowna last night from McKinley Landing and Clifton areas at Prospera Place. She said she doesn’t know what to do next.
“We’ve got no information. We don’t know what we should be doing and the longer we wait the more people come,” she said. “I think the community is really coming together and people we barely know are reaching out and seeing if we have a place to go.”
Another named Brit fled from McKinley Road where they were watching the spectacular fire growing on the Westside.
“Then all of a sudden we got information that a fire was on Clifton and then we started packing and leaving,” she said. "We spent the night in the car, our friends in Lake Country told us to come stay with them and now they have to evacuate too.”
The West Kelowna fire loomed all day yesterday, foretelling what might come overnight, but that didn’t mean everyone was able to prepare.
Cheri, from West Kelowna, got an evacuation notice on her phone when she got home from work at 4:30 p.m.
“I started putting stuff together really quickly. I have a tenant; he was at work. I couldn’t really get a hold of him, and so I started throwing things into a suitcase for him,” she said. “I had to find him a shelter because he just got here from Ukraine. I have two cats and I was thinking, where am I going to take my cats?”
Prospera Place wasn’t just attracting evacuees last night and this morning, it was also busy with volunteers offering help and support.
Bal, from Rutland, was waiting outside of the building in hopes of assisting someone.
“There are quite a few people that I have seen online who are willing to come out as a community and help out others in need,” he said. "I took the day off because I was thinking about vulnerable seniors that might be living alone or have a pet, who may not have been able to pack up right away. Guys like me are happy to help where we can."
"I wish I could do more.”
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