B.C. fire victims to begin return home
Some residents of West Kelowna are anxiously awaiting word on the condition of their homes after forest fires forced more than 11,000 people from their residences in B.C.'s Okanagan region on the weekend.
Late Monday, the Regional District of Central Okanagan said 6,000 of the more than 11,000 orders to evacuate will be rescinded at 8 a.m. on Tuesday morning.
The residents who return home will remain on evacuation alert, meaning they could be forced out again at a moment's notice.
"We're confident that the ground fuels and anything that could cause concern has been consumed," Tim Ewart, with the B.C. Forest Service, said Monday in a late-evening briefing.
Police gave the residents only minutes to leave on Saturday when the fires first broke out, and many left pets and valuable possessions behind as they fled for emergency shelters and the homes of family and friends.
Residents of the Glenrosa and Rose Valley areas of West Kelowna spent their second night out of their homes Sunday as fire crews spent the weekend fighting two nearby fires that were burning out of control.
So far officials have only said that three homes were destroyed in the Glenrosa fire, and refused to comment on the state of any other homes.
B.C. Public Safety Minister Kash Heed said he had flown over the affected area and called the damage devastating. News media were being scheduled to get an escorted view of the area during the afternoon.
Another 6,000 residents of the Bear Creek, Shannon Woods, West Kelowna Estates, Crystal Springs and Brookhaven neighbourhoods remained on alert on Monday, ready to leave when notified.
A third fire in the Terrace Mountain area continued to burn out of control, but was not threatening any homes on Monday.
Meanwhile, RCMP said they were conducting roving patrols of the evacuated areas and were taking down the names and details of anyone they encountered, but there were no reports of looting.
Several people also failed to stop at police roadblocks and were issued tickets, but no police were injured in the incidents, they said.
Highway 97, which has been closed since the first of three fires in the area broke out on Saturday, will also reopen on Tuesday morning, officials said.