At least 50 structures destroyed by West Kelowna wildfire

At least 50 structures have been lost in the 110-square-kilometre McDougall Creek wildfire near West Kelowna, officials say.

In an update on the situation Monday, West Kelowna Fire Chief Jason Brolund said most of the damaged neighbourhoods were still being assessed, so that number is expected to grow

This comes after crews reported progress on the blaze over the weekend. The McDougall Creek fire stands at approximately 11,000 hectares, which is virtually unchanged from Sunday morning. The BC Wildfire Service says the cooler, calmer, more humid weather continues to help crews try to get situation under control.

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The service says crews have been taking advantage of recent weather to go into neighbourhoods and extinguish fires around homes and create a “guard” to prevent more structural losses.

About a half dozen neighbourhoods in West Kelowna, including Smith Creek, Tallus Ridge, Shannon Lake, the Lenz Road Trailer Park, and Rose Valley, escaped fire damage, Brolund said.

Officials say the number one priority remains protecting structures and critical infrastructure, but firefighters are starting to build out plans and control lines for the next phases of fighting the fires.

“We know everyone is eager to get home and get answers on your properties,” said Loyal Wooldridge, chair of the Regional District of the Central Okanagan. “This is a priority for us as well. I was informed by our deputy director that an advanced planning team has been formed, and they will be working to support the efforts, but it will take time.”

Kelowna Fire Chief Travis Whiting has confirmed five homes have been destroyed by the wildfire in Kelowna, while Lake Country Chief Darren Lee says two to three structures have been lost in his community.

The McDougall Creek Fire burning near West Kelowna crossed the Okanagan Lake to Kelowna proper Thursday evening.

Evacuation orders and alerts remain in place for various communities in Kelowna and West Kelowna. As of Monday morning, 9,855 properties remained on evacuation order, Wooldridge said.

“These are unprecedented numbers,” he added.

‘These are families who have lost everything,’ premier says of destruction 

While it remains unclear exactly what kind of structures have been destroyed, Premier David Eby says it’s “reasonable to assume that most, if not all,” of them were homes.

“Which means that these homes are gone,” Eby said. “These are families who have lost everything. It is also probably news that is only going to get worse as the assessments continue.

“There are other communities that have lost homes, and those assessments will come in, and that information will be provided as it becomes available,” he continued.

Eby says he will be travelling with Minister of Forests Bruce Ralston and Minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness Bowinn Ma to fire-affected areas Tuesday.

“Our goal is to reassure people that we will be there when the crisis passes to help them rebuild but also to get info from the frontline about what communities need to ensure the government is as responsive as possible,” he said.