Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to clarify that Highway 33 remains closed in both directions, according to Drive BC. The next update is 7 a.m. Monday.
The Philpott Road wildfire that broke out near Highway 33 on Thursday is now 20 per cent contained.
That’s an improvement from early Saturday afternoon when the wildfire, in the Joe Rich area, continued to burn out of control.
The fire is roughly 20 kilometers east of Kelowna.
Highway 33 reopened to single lane alternating traffic Saturday evening. Vehicles are being escorted through the area by a pilot car. On Sunday morning, DriveBC was telling motorists to expect a hour long wait.
The blaze has burnt 465 hectares, up from an estimated 400 hectares on Friday.
“That change in size is primarily due to us just being able to get out there and get better GPS reading on the size of the fire,” explained fire information officer Justine Hunse.
So far officials say there have been no reports of damage to homes.
On Saturday, the media was escorted down Highway 33 to get a closer look at the blaze, which began near the highway.
“It’s a low to moderate ground fire right now. We are going to see some open flame and maybe some candling up into the trees,” said Hunse on Saturday morning.
On Saturday the fire was burning north, away from the community of Joe Rich. However, the blaze is within a few hundred meters of the backyards of homes, as it has been since the first night of the fire.
More than 1,000 residents remain under an evacuation order and after two nights out of their homes, many were concerned about the animals they left behind.
“I’ve got poultry locked up. I’m a little frustrated at the moment because I was going to go in and water them and make sure they are safe, and of course I can’t get in,” said evacuee Elroy Karius, on Saturday.
It’s something the volunteer Animal Lifeline Emergency Response Team (ALERT) is also trying to address, but as of Saturday morning they didn’t have the clearance to go into the evacuated area.
However, Joe Rich fire chief Ben Wasyliuk said with the blaze uncontained, safety in the fire area remained an issue.
“It’s not always possible to bring people in with trailers to move animals, just due to the dangers,” Wasyliuk said, Saturday afternoon.
“We have just as of this afternoon been able to start supporting the ALERT group in being able to bring them in and actually have them fulfill those requests.”
ALERT confirmed that they were later escorted into the area to provide food and water to animals and get a dog out of a home.
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