McDougall Creek Wildfire on Aug. 17.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Kevin Moffat
August 21, 2023 - 8:55 AM
Evacuation orders were lifted in some areas of the Okanagan yesterday, Aug. 20.
Residents along Highway 3 between Keremeos and Hedley were allowed to return home and evacuation orders were lifted for about 30 properties near the UBC Okanagan campus in Kelowna. That came just after half a dozen properties in the Glenmore Highlands area of Kelowna were ordered evacuated.
BC Wildfire Service had no updates as of 7 a.m. today, Aug. 21, for most of the fires in the region. Updates are expected later today.
The most dynamic is the Bush Creek Wildfire that tore across Highway 1 between Chase and Sorrento yesterday.
“The BC Wildfire Service continues to respond to the Bush Creek East wildfire, which now also encompasses the Adams Lake wildfire,” BC Wildfire posted on Facebook at about 11 p.m. yesterday. “This incident remains a dynamic situation and we are working with our partners to manage the multiple complexities associated with this wildfire.”
“Incoming weather systems are influenced by the Tropical Storm Hilary. Sustained easterly winds are expected to reach 20 kilometres per hour tomorrow, with gusts up to 40 kilometres per hour. While smoke cover will help to mitigate fire behaviour, there is an ongoing potential for extreme fire behaviour.
“Late tomorrow evening, we may receive 2-3 mm of precipitation. This will reduce fire behaviour in the short term, allowing crews to work on direct suppression closer to the fire perimeter. Based on the current forecast, fire behaviour is expected to decrease after tomorrow.”
While that update dealt specifically with the Bush Creek East Wildfire the forecast shows similar conditions throughout the region.
READ MORE: Smoke and showers in the forecast for Kamloops and the Okanagan
The Bush Creek fire was estimated to have burned 41,000 ha by 9 a.m. yesterday. That’s about the same size as the Crater Creek Wildfire southwest of Keremeos.
The McDougall Creek Wildfire in West Kelowna reached 11,000 ha yesterday while the fire in the Clifton Road/Wilden area of Kelowna was estimated at 360 ha and another fire in Lake Country had burned 769 ha.
The Canada Task Force 1 heavy urban search and rescue team arrived in West Kelowna yesterday. It’s a specialized team from Vancouver that started evaluating the damage from the McDougall Creek Wildfire and will be able to provide information about how many structures were destroyed by the fire.
As of yesterday afternoon, 10,782 Central Okanagan residents were evacuated and 10,759 were on evacuation alert.
The Upper Park Rill Creek Wildfire was discovered southwest of Okanagan Falls on Friday. By yesterday afternoon it had burned about 1,000 ha and forced evacuations by the Osoyoos Indian Band
DriveBC says Highway 1 is closed for 18 km in the Chase area and in the Fraser Canyon.
There is a travel advisory on Highway 97 from Vernon to Osoyoos with temporary accommodation restrictions in place.
Kelowna International Airport, which has been closed since Friday to support firefighting efforts, expected commercial flights to be cancelled until at least 9 p.m. tonight, according to its website.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Rob Munro or call 250-808-0143 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.
We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. SUBSCRIBE to our awesome newsletter here.
News from © iNFOnews, 2023