A new wildfire broke out Sunday night north of Peachland in the Interior.
The fire, known as the Mount Law wildfire, has grown quickly from a spot fire to an estimated 800 hectares in size by Monday morning.
The blaze has forced an evacuation order and a local state of emergency for the City of West Kelowna.
The fire remains out of control and is suspected to be human-caused according to the BC Wildfire Service.
The Central Okanagan Emergency Operations Centre has issued the order for properties in the immediate area of the fire.
The properties on evacuation order are:
- 4713 MacKinnon Road
- 5000 Glenrosa Road (Bull Mountain Resort – formerly Crystal Mountain Resort)
- 4425 Glenrosa Road (Telemark Nordic Club)
- 3237 to 3530 Carre Road
- 3237 to 3512 Corine Road
- 3372 to 3725 Emerald Road
- 3496 Fenton Road
- 3318 to 3475 Gill Road
- 3280 to 3802 Glenrosa Road
- 3301 to 3583 McKellar Road
- 3230 to 3525 Preston Road
- 3325 to 3770 Turnbull Road
In addition, an additional 60 properties are now under evacuation alert. Residents in the area are advised to be ready to leave their homes at a moment’s notice.
The flames from this fire are very visible from Highway 97C.
Helicopters are gathering water from Okanagan Lake and dropping it on the fire to try and prevent it from spreading further.
Air tankers have also been called in and crews from the BC Wildfire Service and West Kelowna firefighters are also on the scene.
It has been a very dry and blustery weekend throughout much of B.C. and concerns about new fires igniting remain very high.