UPDATE: 12:20 p.m.
More controlled burns are expected to be conducted on the McDougall Creek wildfire Sunday, as crews work to contain the massive blaze. Meanwhile, evacuation orders continue to lift.
The fire, which is currently estimated at 12,318 hectares in size, continues to burn in the hills above West Kelowna.
But following the lifting of some evacuation orders this morning, the rest of the properties along Bartley Road and Rosewood Drive can now also return to their homes. A map of all the current evacuations can be found here.
While fire crews continue to put out hot spots and mop up around homes along Westside Road, the fire continues to burn more actively further out in the backcountry.
“Moving forward over the coming days, planned ignitions are going to be a big part of what we're doing, so smoke will be visible, but that will be to bring the fire down to those containment lines to secure the fire overall,” said BCWS Deputy Operations Officer Ben Sandy in a video published Sunday.
If weather conditions cooperate, a 100-hectare controlled burn will take place above the Smith Creek area, moving northwards to the Powers Creek drainage. This burn will build off Saturday's successful ignition operation in the area.
Towards the western flank, further away from homes, a large 1,300-hectare controlled burn is expected to be conducted Sunday between a previously established machine guard and the fire's edge, from Bear Main forest service road to Mr. Swite Road.
Helicopter have been seen making regular fill-ups at Shannon Lake over the past couple days, as they support the controlled burning operations.
“The purpose of these planned ignition operations is to remove unburnt fuel in an intentional way to secure control lines. Based on current conditions this unburnt fuel has the potential to burn on its own in a significantly more active way,” the BCWS says.
“It allows us to bring the fire perimeter down to control lines and creates a more uniform and continuous fire edge which is easier for crews to use direct attack methods on and extinguish hot spots to strengthen control lines and achieve containment."
Sandy says crews have been building containment lines with heavy equipment on the west flank of the fire over the past few days, while firefighters have been building hand guards in the steep terrain above homes on the south flank.
In this steep terrain, some firefighters have been rappelling into the area to access hard-to-reach areas.
Along Westside road, on the east flank of the fire, crews continue to assess danger trees near homes, while mopping up hot spots and assisting BC Hydro crews.
To the north, crews are working in the remnants of a 2015 wildfire in the area, where the fuel is thinner, providing easier terrain to create a wet line and stop the fire's progress.
UPDATE: 11 am.
More West Kelowna residents are able to return home Sunday morning, after another round of evacuation orders have been rescinded.
Just before 11 a.m., Central Okanagan Emergency Operations announced the lifting of the evacuation order for the remaining residents in the upper Shannon Woods and Tallus Ridge areas.
This latest downgrade from an order to an alert affects homes on the following streets:
- BIG SKY DR
- CROWN CREST DR
- CROWN CREST PL
- PARAMOUNT DR
- RYSER PL
- SHANNON HEIGHTS CRT
- SHANNON HEIGHTS PL
- SHANNON HILLS DR
- SHANNON HILLS PL
- TALLUS GREEN CRES
- TALLUS GREEN PL
- TALLUS HEIGHTS DR
- TALLUS HEIGHTS LANE
Those under an evacuation alert must still be prepared to leave at a moment's notice if conditions change.
Evacuation orders have been rescinded for hundreds of homes across the Central Okanagan in recent days. As of Saturday, all residences in Lake Country and Kelowna have now been taken off evacuation order, although thousands of homes still remain evacuated on the west side of Okanagan Lake due to the McDougall Creek fire.
A map of all the current evacuations can be found here.
ORIGINAL: 6:35 a.m.
The evacuation order for more than 600 properties across the Central Okanagan was lifted Saturday, but thousands of people still remain unable to return home.
Firefighters have worked to control the three interface wildfires that have burned through the Central Okanagan in the past 10 days, and evacuation orders have slowly been rescinded over the past week.
The two fires that burned in Kelowna and Lake Country were declared “held” on Thursday by the BC Wildfire Service, and as of Saturday, all residents in these two communities have been able to return home.
The McDougall Creek fire continues to burn an area more than 12,000 hectares in size on the west side of Okanagan Lake. The fire has impacted at least 174 properties within the City of West Kelowna, Westbank First Nation and the unincorporated areas of Westside Road.
With many people returning home in recent days, some are learning just how close the fire came to their backdoors.
Sunday, about 2,740 properties remain under an evacuation order due to the McDougall Creek fire. Further evacuation order downgrades could come throughout the day Sunday.
The Central Okanagan Emergency Operations Centre will not be hosting its daily press conference Sunday, but further written updates about the progress being made in the firefight are expected.
More controlled burns planned on McDougall Creek fire as evacuation orders continue to lift - West Kelowna News - Castanet.net
Read More
No comments:
Post a Comment