Dozens forced from their homes due to 500-hectare wildfire in the Okanagan

A wildfire near Peachland has forced dozens of people to leave their homes in the South Okanagan. The Mt. Eneas fire has scorched an estimated 500 hectares.

Forty-three properties are now under an evacuation order in the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen (RDOS).

More people have been ordered to leave their home in the Central Okanagan Regional District (CORD) but it’s unclear exactly how many people are affected.

The nearby Okanagan Lake Provincial Park has been cleared out. Shelters in West Kelowna and Penticton have been set up.

The RDOS has declared a local state of emergency in “Electoral Area F,” which is in the Greata Ranch area, adding “the wildfire may threaten life, and safety.”

Meantime, the District of Summerland has also issued a local state of emergency due to quickly growing wildfires, which have been fanned by high winds.

“The fire definitely grew substantially early evening yesterday with the high winds,” explains district Chief Administrative Officer Linda Tynan. “And because there’s high winds predicted right now and it’s definitely very visible.”

However, she says the blaze did settle over the late evening Wednesday, so the district is waiting to see what the rest of the day will bring. Crews are attacking the fire vigorously from the air, she says.

“Last year we had a state of emergency in specific areas, not throughout the whole district, but in localized areas,” Tynan says. “I don’t think last summer we didn’t do the full district if I recall correctly.”

Declaring a local state of emergency will allow the local government to take actions necessary to ensure public safety, as well as protect municipal and critical infrastructure.

“It gives us the power to take action where necessary,” Tynan adds.

Another wildfire — the Mount Conkle fire — is also burning near the district, to its southwest.

Highway 97 between Peachland and Summerland has re-opened, but you can only get through with an RCMP escort.

CORD has also issued an evacuation alert for several properties because of the Good Creek Fire burning in Okanagan Mountain Provincial Park. That fire is 200 hectares in size.

A cluster of three fires — collectively called the Carrot Mountain wildfire — are burning west of West Kelowna.

And the Mt. Conkle wildfire is burning about 8km southwest of Summerland. The BC Wildfire Service says the 50-hectare blaze is “highly visible, but no structures are considered threatened at this time.”

All of the fires are likely the result of electrical storms that went through the region earlier this week.

Rain may be on the way this weekend

The weather forecast is offering a bit of a mix of good and bad news for fire crews in the Okanagan.

“It’s still going to be hot and mainly dry through the Okanagan today and into the Thompson region,” says NEWS 1130 Meteorologist Michael Kuss. “But we will get a cool-down for the weekend, and there is rain in the forecast. The high temperatures, especially around Kamloops, are only around 20 degrees on Friday and Saturday. There’s a good chance for some rain.

“The negative part of this picture is the potential is there for some lightning, and that could spark more wildfires today and tomorrow.”

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