Crews Tell Their Story From the Fire Lines at Westside Road

Smeared with soot and visibly fatigued, the brave men and women vigorously battling the Westside Road wildfire met with Premier Christy Clark on Wednesday, offering good news on the progress of the blaze that is currently devastating the hillside in West Kelowna.

Photo Credit: KelownaNow.com.

Standing just outside the perimeter of the fire on Westside Road, BC Wildfire crew member with the Nicola Knights Tyler Cultum described his experience in West Kelowna as incredibly difficult, considering the steep terrain.

The Nicola Knights wildfire crew. (Photo Credit: KelownaNow.com.)

Despite the stifling heat and the dehydration, Cultum and his fellow crew members are making progress on the wildfire and are hoping to have it under control soon.

“For the next step, we’re looking at the big picture,” commented Cultum. “We’re trying to think about getting a contingency guard in place to make sure that we can do some burning off, and getting a wet line put in to get some solid control on the fire.”

Crews are also dealing with a lot of heavy smoke and small yet persistent flames, especially burning in the area just off of Westside Road. In some regions, the blaze has crept its way down to the base of Okanagan Lake.

Meanwhile, BC Wildfire Service is working with air tankers to take action against smoke that's been reported on the south flank of the Westside Road fire.

Photo Credit: KelownaNow.com.

According to Incoming Incident Commander Glen Burgess, crews were challenged with some light spotting issues thanks to Tuesday evening’s down slope winds; however, the wildfire experienced little growth overnight and remains at 430 hectares in size.

Retardant lines have been placed on the north and south flanks of the blaze, helping to limit the spread and allowing crews to work on a plan to smother the flames.

“We’re definitely making progress,” said Burgess. “Our priority at this point is along Westside Road and protecting the homes and the valuables.”

Photo Credit: KelownaNow.com.

A good majority of the wildfires in British Columbia have been lightning caused this year, but Clark is calling for stiffer penalties when it comes to human-caused fires.

“I think having a tough penalty says that as a society, as British Columbians, this is something that we’re really concerned about,” said Clark. “We fine people for speeding, we fine people for littering, but at the moment, the penalties I think for carelessness with fire are too small.”

The province has already burned through their $60 million wildfire budget, and Clark anticipates an expenditure anywhere between $300 million to $400 million by the season’s end.

“You never want to have to spend more money than you need to, but we’re going to spend as much as is needed to make sure we control these fires,” added Clark.

Photo Credit: KelownaNow.com.

Clark was also quick to comment on British Columbia’s changing climate, suggesting that it’s about time we start facing the problem head on.

“Climate change has altered the terrain. It’s made us much more vulnerable to fire, and the earth is very dry. I think that we have to start planning with the knowledge that this isn’t going to be an unusual year every year,” said Clark. “We have to fight climate change as a province.”

As of Wednesday, July 22nd, the province has spent $140 million on fighting wildfires. There are currently 254 wildfires burning throughout British Columbia. Forty-three new fires were sparked on Tuesday, 35 of which were lightning-caused and eight human-caused.