Brush fire on Tyndall Road in Winfield, near Jack Seaton Park, just off Camp Road.
Image Credit: Contributed/Dave Thomson
April 25, 2013 - 2:35 PM
1:20 p.m. - April 26, 2013
The brush fire that quickly spread through a Winfield hillside yesterday along Tyndall Road was triggered by a controlled burn in the area. It took three firetrucks, two tinders and 27 firefighters over the course of the day to knock the flames out.
Lake Country Fire Deparment assistant chief Brent Penner says the first calls came from neighboring residents complaining about smoke in the area. Once on route, the department received calls of a brush fire at the north end of Nighthawk Road. They traced the fire to a legal, permitted burning which suddenly got out of hand.
"Wind caught the pile and spread it into dry brush," Penner says. The resident had been using his own equipment to control the fire before it spread into the tree canopy.
"The eastside gets baked all day long by the sun, so it kind of ran up the hillside to Tyndall Road," he says.
Their first concern was to protect the buildings along Tyndall Road. The crew was able to gain elevation on the fire, knocking it out of the trees from the top-down.
Penner says geography plays a big part in fire-risk. "Especially in that area – it's baked in the sun all day long," he says. In grassy terrain bordered by forest a fire can move very quickly with enough wind.
While the burn season is in its last days, Penner says it's still necessary to use diligence and care. In yesterday's case, Penner says the property owner was overly confident he could control the fire.
"They didn't really realize it was out of their control until it was too late,” Penner says. Fortunately it was the only fire of its magnitude for the season.
To contact the reporter for this story, email Julie Whittet at jwhittet@infotelnews.ca or call (250)718-0428.
3:29 p.m - April 25, 2013
People are returning to their homes after a brush fire triggered an evacuation earlier this afternoon on Tyndall Road in Lake Country.
Firefighters were dispatched before 2:30 p.m. today to control a fire that broke out close to a residential area near Camp Road and Jack Seaton Park in Winfield.
Residents have been told they can return to their homes on foot, but their cars have to remain outside the designated zone awhile longer because of firehoses currently being used at the scene.
2:33 p.m. - April 25, 2013
Firefighters are at the scene of a brush fire that broke out on Tyndell Road in Winfield this afternoon.
Trucks were dispatched from Kelowna, Winfield and Vernon to control the blaze. A source told Infotel News that roadblocks have been placed around the area so firefighters can work.
Residents have been evacuated from the immediate area and are waiting outside the perimeter for permission to return to their homes. The fire is currently under control and less significant than when trucks arrived.
Stay with Infotel News as this story develops.
News from © iNFOnews, 2013