An aggressive wildfire east of Adventure Bay forced the evacuation of 60 homes Saturday night.
The fire began shortly after 9 p.m. Saturday and grew quickly due to high winds and difficult terrain.
“We heard the sirens and we kind of went out into the driveway to see what was going on. We couldn’t smell anything but literally like six to seven minutes later we got a whiff of that smoke,” said Vernon Councillor, Dalvir Nahal.
“And within half an hour it just, the whole sky lit up you could see the trees burning. It was quite a sight.”
She says the fire started in an undeveloped area close to a trail, which is why it was harder for firefighters to get to it by foot.
She says within an hour of the fire starting there were about 40 firefighters battling the blaze.
But she says nearby homes had to be evacuated, including her own.
“The police gave us 10 minutes to pack up our stuff and go.”
Firefighters from Vernon Fire Rescue Services and B.C. Forest Service are on the scene.
As of 1 a.m. the fire was one acre in size.
A Level one Emergency Operations Centre has been opened at the Vernon Recreation Centre for evacuated residents.
But as of Sunday morning, Vernon Fire Chief Keith Green says it is safe for displaced residents to return to their homes.
As of midnight 20 residents had been registered at their evacuation centre.
Green says the fire has been contained but crews are still mopping up.
He says no structures were affected.
Comments