Crews in West Kelowna spent the night fighting a brush fire that got out of control near several homes.
On Saturday, a fire swept through part of Kalamoir Park, putting several people on edge.
The fire sparked shortly before 8:00 p.m., part way up the hill from Okanagan Lake.
A helicopter with a bucket quickly attacked the flames while firefighters doused the fire from the ground.
Strong winds forced the flames toward houses at the top of the hill.
Around six homes, containing five people, were evacuated, but they were allowed back in their houses shortly after.
Many living in the area have vivid memories of past fires.
The Kalamoir park fire started almost exactly four years since the Glenrosa and Rose valley fires in West Kelowna. They caused evacuations that affected more that 11,000 residents and damaged and destroyed several homes.
“There is a fire season out there and we are really starting to get into in,” says Darren Lee, Assistant Fire Chief West Kelowna Fire & Rescue, “So now we are starting to get into that prime time in the next month to six weeks kind of thing.”
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While the latest fire was controlled quickly and was down to just a few hot spots within 24 hours, the cause hasn’t been confirmed yet.
There were several reports of fireworks being set off in the park area – something that worries officials.
“We’ve had 457 fires to date so far this year and the majority of which have been person caused,” says Provincial Fire Information Officer Kevin Skrepnek. “But having said that we haven’t seen a lot of lightning so far this year in B.C. The next month or so will be the prime time for that.”
Meanwhile, many parts of B.C. currently have fire danger levels of high and extreme, meaning there are optimal conditions for a wildfire. This afternoon, the fire danger rating for Whistler was raised to extreme.
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