Potential wildfire growth prompts more evacuation alerts in West Kelowna

Several neighbourhoods in the West Kelowna area have been put on evacuation alert Tuesday as winds pick up in the area, the Central Okanagan Emergency Operations Centre says.

Homes impacted are in parts of the Glenrosa area and Westbank First Nation, among others.

Related links:

• Could be weeks before some West Kelowna wildfire evacuees can return home: officials

• Restrictions in place near West Kelowna for McDougall Creek wildfire suppression

“Increased winds have increased fire risk,” the operations centre said in a news release. “In response, BC Wildfire Service has taken the precautionary measure of directing additional aerial and ground support resources to monitor for new or increased fire activity in the area.”

The centre’s public information officer, Kirstin Jones, says they had been liaising with BC Wildfire Service, who told them this is how they should prepare.

“We got notice that we are expecting increased wind activity that has shown us in the past this fire does behave certain ways, and increased fire activity is something that could happen,” she said. “Residents on the alerts are asked to just get ready to leave at a moment’s notice, and in this particular emergency, you may have to be away for a bit of a time, so prepare to be away for three to four days.”

The alert applies to properties north of Highway 97 to 97C to Old Okanagan Highway, including properties north of Dobbin Road.

The McDougall Creek fire raged through parts of West Kelowna last week but conditions had improved over the past few days.