181 properties confirmed damaged or destroyed by wildfires in B.C.'s Okanagan region
CBC News | Posted: August 23, 2023 5:59 AM | Last Updated: August 24, 2023
Officials urge patience as they work to make neighbourhoods safe for residents to return
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The latest on the wildfires:
- Latest numbers bring the estimate of properties lost or damaged by Okanagan wildfires to 181.
- The Regional District of Central Okanagan has launched a website so evacuees can check property status.
- Despite rain in many areas, the Fraser Canyon continues to be dry, as multiple fires threaten communities.
- B.C.'s emergency management minister is urging residents to leave evacuation zones and let firefighters work.
- Wildfire-related travel restrictions have ended in much of B.C.'s southern Interior except for West Kelowna.
- After speaking with evacuees, B.C. Premier David Eby said the province can start looking at recovery and rebuilding efforts.
- Learn more about how to find the full list of wildfires, highway closures and evacuation orders and alerts.
An estimated 181 properties have been partially or completely destroyed by wildfire in and around West Kelowna, B.C., officials announced Wednesday, saying residents will soon be able to check the status of their homes online.
Local fire chiefs provided the latest numbers at a news conference Wednesday morning, saying 84 properties have been damaged to some degree in West Kelowna and the Westbank First Nation, while 90 were affected in the North Westside area to the north.
Some of those properties may include multiple structures, such as the Lake Okanagan Resort.
WATCH | Cooler conditions allow B.C. evacuees chance to assess wildfire damage:
Residents in neighbouring Kelowna were told a day earlier that structures on four properties were lost, while Lake Country saw three homes destroyed.
Officials from the Regional District of Central Okanagan (RDCO) said Wednesday evening that residents will be able to check the status of their homes by entering their addresses into a new portal.
The RDCO said that anyone placed on evacuation order will be able to input their property into the portal to see if it was damaged and requested that members of the general public refrain from using it.
"To date, three of the four property owners in Kelowna and three properties in Lake Country have been contacted to confirm significant structural damage on their properties. These properties are not included in the search tool," reads an update from the district.
On Wednesday night, 309 properties were taken off evacuation order in the West Kelowna area, along with a number of areas in the District of Lake Country earlier in the evening. Firefighters and local government officials are asking for patience as evacuation orders are gradually lifted in the region.
"I'm still out of my house, as is my family. I'm feeling the same thing you guys are," West Kelowna Fire Chief Jason Brolund said.
"I'm running out of underwear too, folks."
Brolund warned the process will be a gradual one. Crews first need to make sure roads and properties are free of hazards, and that returning residents won't interfere with ongoing firefighting efforts. The fire department also wants to ensure flames aren't going to return to evacuated neighbourhoods.
"We want to avoid having to evacuate you again if this incident escalates," he said.
Shift in the weather helps fight in some regions
Parts of the Okanagan and several other regions of southern B.C. saw significant rain on Tuesday night, and with cooler temperatures and higher humidity on Wednesday, the change in weather conditions is helping crews get a handle on the more than 370 fires burning across the province.
That includes the Adams Lake wildfire in the Shuswap region burning northeast of Kamloops.
"We have an increase in relative humidity, lower temperatures," said fire information officer Forrest Tower in an update Wednesday. "That's really resulted in quite widespread diminishing of fire behaviour."
But not all regions have been so lucky.
"Unfortunately, the rains some parts of British Columbia are seeing didn't come into the Fraser Canyon," Forests Minister Bruce Ralston said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon.
That means the 144-square-kilometre Kookipi Creek fire and other fires in the area continue to present major challenges for firefighters.
Residents of numerous areas around the Fraser Canyon community of Lytton — which itself is on evacuation alert — have been ordered to evacuate because of the Kookipi Creek and Stein Mountain fires.
A new evacuation order was issued by the Lytton First Nation on Tuesday night for eight reserves threatened by wildfire.
Officials address distrust, defiance in Shuswap
The Columbia Shuswap Regional District confirmed Tuesday that the aggressive Bush Creek East blaze in the Shuswap region forced the evacuation of 11,000 people and destroyed numerous homes and buildings, including the firehall at Scotch Creek.
Some of the area damaged by the fire is within the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, which said Wednesday that structures were damaged or destroyed on 11 properties within the region. However, a full assessment has yet to be completed within neighbouring regions that saw heavier fire damage.
The Shuswap region has seen widespread conflict over whether the province is doing enough to protect homes and bring the destructive wildfires in the region under control.
Some residents have defied evacuation orders, and the B.C. Wildfire Service has reported repeated thefts and removals of its equipment, including sprinklers that have been set up to protect critical infrastructure.
WATCH | CBC photojournalists chronicle wildfires' destruction:
In Wednesday's provincial update, Emergency Management Minister Bowinn Ma urged everyone in evacuated areas to leave so firefighters can work safely, noting that air crews can't drop water or fire retardant when there are people on the ground.
"If you are under an evacuation order, you must leave immediately. It is the law. You may think that you are helping yourself or your neighbours by staying behind, but you are not. You're making a highly dangerous situation even more dangerous for everyone involved," she said.
Cliff Chapman, operations director for the wildfire service, said negative and conspiracy-minded posts on social media are "absolutely" affecting the mental well-being of crews, but for the most part, the feedback from the public has been "profoundly positive."
Most travel restrictions end
The province ended most of its wildfire-related travel restrictions in the southern Interior, save for West Kelowna, with firefighters saying they made good progress on numerous blazes amid favourable weather conditions.
Kelowna Mounties say, while the non-essential travel ban to much of the region has been lifted, boaters hoping to access Okanagan Lake should stay off the water between the William R. Bennett Bridge and Fintry Provincial Park.
First Nation residents describe heartbreak
The Bush Creek East wildfire torched communities like Scotch Creek and parts of the Skwla̓x te Secwe̓pemcu̓lecw reserve over the weekend.
Barney Tomma, a 63-year-old resident who had lived his entire life on the reserve, broke down when he talked about losing his home and his comic collection — which dates back 40 years and has over 34,000 issues.
WATCH | Skwla̓x te Secwe̓pemcu̓lecw resident talks about the pain of losing his home:
"I'm too old to start over again," he said, holding back tears. "All my memories ... like, I'm a comic collector. Thirty-four-thousand comics gone. That was my retirement fund.
"So now, I guess I'll retire like everybody else. Make do with what I could get."
READ MORE:
- Crews working on a wildfire near Pemberton captured footage of a rare fire whirl or fire tornado.
- Popkum's fire chief attended his Canadian citizenship ceremony by Zoom while on the front lines in West Kelowna.
- Residents of the B.C. Interior say they're resigned to consistently poor air quality as wildfires threaten communities each summer.
- A B.C. hiker says he was minutes away from "frying" after he narrowly escaped from the Crater Creek wildfire southwest of Keremeos.
- Evacuees from the Kamloops area made their frustrations clear with B.C. Premier David Eby on Tuesday.
- Volunteers are venturing into evacuation areas to rescue pets and reunite them with their owners.
- A man who lost his dream home to fire in the Shuswap region is sharing his story.
WATCH | Wildfire information officer urges against spreading misinformation:
Anyone placed under an evacuation order should leave the area immediately.
Evacuation centres have been set up throughout the province to assist anyone evacuating from a community under threat from a wildfire.
To find the centre closest to you, visit the EmergencyInfoBC website.
Evacuees are encouraged to register with Emergency Support Services online, whether or not they access services at an evacuation centre.
Do you have a story to share?
If you've been affected by the B.C. wildfires and want to share your story, email cbcnewsvancouver@cbc.ca.