Kelowna General Hospital under Code Orange alert

Correction: Interior Health has clarified that Kelowna General Hospital is under a Code Orange alert, not a previously confirmed Code Orange order.

The biggest regional hospital in B.C.’s Okanagan has issued a Code Orange alert.

According to the province, a Code Orange means: “Disaster or Mass Casualty.”

Interior Health Authority (IHA) issued a clarification Friday afternoon, saying the hospital is under an alert, “to prep the facility in the event a code orange needs to be called.”

IHA says an order has not been called, and the alert was put in place on Thursday evening “given the challenging and evolving situation.”

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“Code Orange should be used for mass casualties or disasters only and not for overcapacity or gridlock in an Emergency Department,” the province explained in its Standardized Hospital Colour Codes Policy.

Interior Health tells CityNews it will be providing more information as “things unfold.”

Kelowna emergency services have been mobilized to fight the massive McDougall Creek Wildfire which has razed parts of West Kelowna.

Spot fires have jumped Lake Okanagan, and parts of Kelowna proper, including the city’s landfill are now on fire.