B.C. Fires: 2 aggressive fires burning near Oliver force 200 evacuations
Fire is 20 minutes away from another wildfire burning in Osoyoos
Two aggressive new wildfires are blazing in Oliver, B.C. on Friday evening and have forced the evacuations of 200 homes.
The B.C. Wildfire Management Branch said crews and aircraft are responding to the fires.
Both the Wilson Mountain Fire, north of Oliver, and the Testalinden Creek Fire, south of the community, pose an imminent threat to homes. Fire officials believe they were caused by lightning.
Map of the evacuation area in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OliverBC?src=hash">#OliverBC</a>. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/oliverfire?src=hash">#oliverfire</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/okanagan?src=hash">#okanagan</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/bcwildfires?src=hash">#bcwildfires</a> <a href="http://t.co/Pl9mmWlyqe">pic.twitter.com/Pl9mmWlyqe</a>
—@WineCapitalJanette Van Vianen lives a kilometere away from Kobau mountain where flames are ripping through the area.
"I can see the flames. There are houses up there ... but it's too smokey to see if anything is burning up there."
She says the fire is moving very fast due to high winds.
Church & State Wines tweeted its winery may have burned in the fire.
We may have lost the winery <a href="http://t.co/FL2P9w8NZ6">pic.twitter.com/FL2P9w8NZ6</a>
—@ChurchStateWine
The fire is roughly 20 minutes away from Osoyoos, where another wildfire is burning.