Wildfire crews in the Central Okanagan are still battling the massive McDougall Creek blaze, which is still deemed to be out of control.
The 10-day old blaze is estimated to be 12,318 hectares, and several evacuation orders and evacuation alerts are still in effect for the West Kelowna area.
“Crews are working hard to strengthen control lines in the northern portion of the fire with BC Wildfire Service,” said North Westside fire chief Ross Kotscherofski.
“While we are making good progress, there is a lot of work to do to make this area safe. I also want to reassure residents that regular emergency services like first medical response and regular fire suppression continue to be available.”
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On Friday, local officials downgraded some evacuation orders in West Kelowna and Westbank First Nation.
In West Kelowna, evacuation orders were downgraded to an alert for the Lenz Road and Rose Valley areas plus the lower Tallus Ridge and Tuscany Drive areas. Also, the Casa Loma area had its evacuation alert rescinded.
In Westbank First Nation, an evacuation alert was cancelled for several properties in IR No. 10.
According to Central Okanagan Emergency Operations, here are the latest numbers on properties on evacuation orders or alerts.
West Kelowna
- 1,828 properties remain on evacuation order
- 838 properties went from evacuation order to alert
- 312 properties had their evacuation alerts rescinded
Westbank First Nation
- 19 properties had their evacuation alerts rescinded
Across Okanagan Lake, there are no evacuation orders in Kelowna, while in Lake Country, there are 408 properties on evacuation order while another 247 went from evacuation order to evacuation alert.
In other news, BC Wildfire says it will be conducting back burns from the top of the Bald Ridge area.
A map showing areas under evacuation alert or order is available online.