Shift in wind saves West Kelowna winery from fire
Posted July 18, 2014 7:21 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
KELOWNA (NEWS1130) – Flames from the Smith Creek Wildfire almost forced a West Kelowna winery to shut down.
It was only a shift in the wind that saved Kalala Winery from the heat.
“There’s always that worry I guess. The line where it ended is less than a kilometre away from where our property is. So if the fire came any closer and got into the subdivision then we would have been put on evacuation next so there’s definitely that worry there,” says Steve Knapp with the winery.
He says it’s easy to see how close they came to potential disaster.
“When it got dark, you could see the entire mountain side was just red, burning hot. A lot of it was covering a much bigger than any of us thought. It’s incredible actually and even during the day it’s quite something because you see this giant black area and the fire retardant is all red so the forest is just entirely black and red with a little bit of green so it’s a pretty messy sight.”
The shifting winds mean they’re no longer threatened, though conditions remain dry.
They’re still monitoring the situation but the winery remains open for business.
“I’m just glad more homes weren’t lost,” he says.
