Wildfire officials seemed upbeat on Saturday morning in updating the public on the McDougall Creek wildfire in the Central Okanagan.
“It’s incredible to think about how much we’ve overcome as a community in such a short time,” said Loyal Wooldridge, a Kelowna city councillor who’s also chairperson of the regional district board.
He added that although the firefight continues, officials are now focusing on evacuees returning home and recovering.
Last week, Woolridge noted there were three out-of-control fires and 10,700 properties on evacuation orders throughout the area. Now, two of those wildfires (Walroy Lake and Clarke Creek) are considered held, and there are 3,400 properties on evacuation order.
“For those still on order, please know your safety remains to be our No. 1 priority,” said Wooldridge. “Crews are working around the clock to restore neighbourhoods before they return.”
Lake Country mayor Blair Ireland also spoke at Saturday’s news conference, saying the district plans to downgrade all evacuation orders within the community to evacuation alerts.
The Clarke Creek wildfire is estimated at 370 hectares, but is deemed to be held.
“Please wait until it’s officially announced,” adding “There’s lots of cleanup going on out there. There are still danger trees … people must remember: The fire is being held. The fire is not out.”
On Saturday afternoon, Central Okanagan Emergency Operations announced that all remaining 408 properties on evacuation order within the District of Lake Country were now under an evacuation alert.
Then, shortly after 3:30 p.m., evacuation orders for properties in upper Tallus Ridge, Shannon Woods Drive and Rainbow Road areas were downgraded to evacuation alerts.
Regarding the overall Grouse complex wildfire, BC Wildfire said there are 202 firefighters and 116 structure protection personnel plus 39 pieces of heavy equipment and 15 aircraft.
“I can say that utility technicians from BC Hydro and Fortis made significant progress,” Brad Litke of BC Wildfire said of restoring power and power poles damaged by the fire.
“Definitely unsung heroes.”
In a Saturday update, BC Hydro said damage is extensive throughout the area, and that 27 kilometres of power lines, 346 poles and 66 pieces of other equipment will need to be replaced.
BC Hydro also said that 35 workers are in the area, and that power has been restored to about 600 customers, but noted that it won’t know when power will be restored to the remaining 600 impacted customers.
Litke said extinguishing hot spots continues and that the number of structure protection personnel has decreased from 289 to 166, which is “a good news story to get those firefighters home to their own communities. We thank them for their efforts.”
However, it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. Litke said temperatures are expected to rise this weekend, along with an increase in fire behaviour.
Planned ignitions, or back burns, will take place on Saturday if conditions allow.
West Kelowna fire chief Jason Brolund discussed how emotions are starting to emerge, from happiness to returning home to frustration.
“I think all of us are beginning to breathe a bit of a collective sigh, although very cautiously,” said Brolund. “We’re nine days in. That’s it. And look at where we are.
“We have faced a wildfire of historical proportions. Our community, in many cases, has been devastated. Just nine days in, we’re well into re-entry and recovery.”
Brolund, saying his day starts at sunrise and ends in the dark, stated they plan on making slow and steady incremental changes in evacuees returning home, but couldn’t give timelines.
He also said the neighbourhoods of West Kelowna Estates and Westside Road were hard hit, “where almost all of the losses in our jurisdiction were sustained.”
“We are working on isolating homes that have burned and ensuring that access routes are in place,” said Brolund. “In some of these neighbourhoods, it could be a longer wait (to return home).”
In the regional district’s electoral area (Trader’s Cove to Killiney Beach), North Westside fire chief Ross Kotscherofski said tremendous ground has been made.
“We know that residents want to return home, and we’re working hard with the Ministry of Transportation and BC Hydro and other utilities to make sure that happens in a safe manner,” he said.
“For severely burned areas, this will take a little bit more time.”
On Friday, a number of evacuation orders and alerts were either downgraded or rescinded throughout the Central Okanagan.
Information on those is available online at Central Okanagan Emergency Operations.
In related news, BC Wildfire has implemented a massive area restriction order near West Kelowna, but within the McDougall Creek wildfire zone.
The affected zone hovers just north of the city, but hugs a large stretch of the western shore of Okanagan Lake.
“This area restriction reflects the need to protect public and BC Wildfire Service personnel safety in areas where fire suppression activities are taking place,” said BC Wildfire.
The order takes effect at noon on Saturday, and will remain in place until noon on Sept. 8, or if it’s rescinded earlier.
Also Saturday, an evacuation order for Westbank First Nation IR No. 10 was downgraded to an alert.