IN PHOTOS: Skaha Creek wildfire near Penticton, B.C. erupts ‘like a volcano’
By Shelby Thom
Global News
Posted August 30, 2021 1:25 pm EST
Updated August 30, 2021 3:00 pm EST
1 min read
This article is more than 3 years old and some information may not be up to date.
Ground crews and multiple air-tankers are attacking the Skaha Creek fire in the south Okanagan. The blaze near Penticton started over the weekend, and as Andrea Macpherson reports, despite cooler temperatures it has now more than doubled from the 100 hectares previously reported. – Aug 30, 2021
An aerial assault is expected to continue on Monday as firefighters ramp up their efforts to control the Skaha Creek wildfire, which ballooned to 100 hectares on Sunday evening west of Penticton, B.C.
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The wildfire first ignited on Saturday but crested the ridge and burned down the mountainside towards the Skaha Hills luxury development above Penticton Regional Airport (YYF).
Viewers sent their photos to Global News, with some describing the ominous scene “like a volcano” erupting and lava pouring down the hillside, as orange flames ignited the night sky.
No evacuation orders or alerts have been issued, and favourable weather conditions are expected to decrease the intensity of the fire this week.
The Skaha Creek wildfire as pictured from a Penticton, B.C., subdivision on Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021.
Courtesy: Mike Biden
The Skaha Creek wildfire as seen from the Skaha Hills development west of Penticton, B.C., on Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021.
Courtesy: Mike Biden
The Skaha Creek wildfire burns in the mountains above the Skaha Hills development on Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021.
Courtesy: Mike Biden
Meghann Fletcher captured this image of the Skaha Creek wildfire spreading across the hillside west of Penticton, B.C., on Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021.
Courtesy: Meghann Fletcher
A tree candling at the Skaha Creek wildfire west of Penticton, B.C., on Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021.
Courtesy: Meghann Fletcher
Sandy Berney submitted this photo of the Skaha Creek wildfire west of Penticton, B.C., after it crested the ridge on Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021.
Courtesy: Sandy Berney/Submitted
Sylvia Thompson snapped this photo of the Skaha Creek wildfire as it marched down the hillside west of Penticton, B.C., on Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021.
Courtesy: Sylvia Thompson/Submitted
The 100-hectare Skaha Creek wildfire is burning directly above the luxury Skaha Hills development west of Penticton, B.C.
Courtesy: Glenn Norton
The Skaha Creek wildfire burning above a condo complex near Penticton, B.C., on Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021.
Courtesy: Ashton Faye