A threatening wildfire has prompted a local state of emergency for the City of West Kelowna, B.C., and part of the nearby Westbank First Nation as fire crews prepare for the "most challenging" few days of the season in the province.
Central Okanagan Emergency Operations has also placed 68 properties on evacuation order and another 5,700 properties on alert due to the nearby McDougall Creek wildfire, which grew to three square kilometres in a matter of hours after it started on Wednesday.
Have a plan of where you will go should you need to evacuate. Be prepared by having grab-and-go bags ready in the event you need to leave quickly. Stay informed about the situation from official sources and follow direction from your local authority.
— BC Wildfire Service (@BCGovFireInfo) August 17, 2023
Cliff Chapman, director of the BC Wildfire Service, said at a news conference that they were seeing extreme behaviour by the fire that is just a few kilometres away from the community.
"We rarely see that type of fire behaviour, you know, pre-breakfast time in B.C., and we're seeing it today and we're going to see it continue through today," he said during a news conference on Thursday.
Most of the southern half of the province has been baking under a heat wave, and Chapman said the breakdown of a high-pressure ridge will bring gusty winds and dry lightning, making the next few days the most challenging yet in a record-breaking fire season.
"You couple that with the extreme drought conditions that we've spoken about on these availabilities over the course of the last number of months, and the conditions out in the forests are very primed to see significant fire growth and to see new fires challenge our suppression efforts," he said.
The areas under evacuation order or alert in West Kelowna don't include Highway 97, which runs through the community, but do cover several business areas, neighbourhoods and subdivisions.
Evacuees are being asked to register online or go to the Information Centre at Royal LePage Place.
Emergency Management Minister Bowinn Ma said the wildfire service has deployed "significant resources" to the fire.
"It is our hope that we don't have to recommend that the communities go to an evacuation order but, of course, we're also asking everyone to be prepared now," she said.
Chapman urged B.C. residents to put together a "grab-and-go" bag and to respect any evacuation orders because the conditions are so dangerous.
"I want to stress now is not the time to not adhere to evacuation orders and alerts. The weather is going to be erratic and significant, at least it is forecast to be," he said.
"Please listen to your local governments and provincial officials when there is an evacuation order. We urge you to please leave. We will try to get you home as soon as we can (when) this weather system passes."
The blaze near West Kelowna is listed as one of 14 fires of note in B.C., meaning it is highly visible or threatening public safety.
