Fire crews have finally gotten a handle on one of three massive wildfires burning in West Kelowna, bringing the blaze in Glenrosa to 60 per cent contained, officials said yesterday.
“There’s still a lot of fire out there and the temperatures are expected to be high (in the next few days) with no precipitation,” said Tim Neal, a fire information officer.
The Central Okanagan Regional District declared a state of emergency yesterday after two fires that broke out in West Kelowna on Saturday — one near Glenrosa and the other near Rose Valley — and quickly spread to 350 hectares.
Crews are also battling a third fire on nearby Terrace Mountain.
They were likely started accidentally by human activity.
“Winds, weather and topography are affecting what we’ve (been able to contain),” said Neal.
“There’s about 120 (firefighters) and we have more coming. At this point we have about 23 helicopters.”
“The (fire) in Glenrosa is the one that’s looking the best right now. That’s the one with most of the homes. It’s a priority for us.”
B.C. Public Safety Minister Kash Heed flew over the affected area yesterday and called the damage “devastating.”
Around 11,000 people have been forced to leave their homes and 6,000 others are on evacuation alert.
