Two youths playing with a lighter was the cause of this afternoon’s fire in Glenmore, according to the Kelowna Fire Department.
“The fire is human caused,” said Tim Light of the Kelowna Fire Department. “We have two minor individuals that have admitted to finding a lighter and lighting a small fire, but stomping it out. And, unfortunately, I guess they didn’t stomp it out enough.
“They’ve taken our investigators and RCMP investigators and the B.C. Wildfire cause and determination investigator right to the scene of the fire.”
The four-hectare fire is held, though the precautionary evacuation alerts that were issued earlier in the afternoon are still in place.
“We’ll probably most of the evening and into the night for sure,” said Light. “We’re setting up a crew to work from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m., but thanks to the air services and (B.C. Wildfire), they cordoned it off with (fire) retardant that the (air) tankers were dropping on site.
“So it’s totally guarded with retardant, and now B.C. Wildfire Service’s ground crews are doing a handguard and the Kelowna Fire Department and city firefighters are wetting down hot spots and just making sure this fire is not going to go anywhere.”
PREVIOUS UPDATE:
An evacuation alert has been issued for 933 properties because of a fire in the Glenmore area of Kelowna.
The fire sparked to life near Yates Court and Ballou Road.
Central Okanagan Emergency Operations issued the alert at approximately 2:30 p.m., roughly 90 minutes after the fire started. Emergency Operations says the alert is a precautionary measure.
The alert is for properties who access the Wilden area via Rio, Upper Canyon or Union Road.
Emergency Operations says affected residents should be ready to leave their homes at a moment’s notice. They should be prepared to be away from their home for an extended period of time, make arrangements for pets and pack essential items such as medicines and important documents,.
When the fire broke out just before 1 p.m., fire crews called it a rank three fire and that it was quickly spreading.
Emergency Operations said it didn’t know how large the fire was, but that firefighters and air support were battling the blaze.
Also, Emergency Operations says emergency personnel are requesting that the public:
- Avoid the Yates Road area so emergency responders can effectively perform their duties, please alternate routes for your commute.
- Please only call 911 in case of emergency
- For up-to-date information on the situation, including a map, and to sign up for e-updates, visit ca
- Information will also be provided via com/CO_Emerg and facebook.com/CORDEmergency
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