(UPDATE: Aug. 19 @ 1:05 pm) - Firefighters battling the McDougall Creek wildfire are facing critically dry conditions, but the smaller gusts of wind and cooler temperatures today are expected to help.
The operation continues to grow, with over 200 resources assisting with the blaze, and more are on the way.
A helicopter dumps water on the #McDougallCreek wildfire this morning, across #BCHwy97 from Okanagan Lake Shopping Centre. #WestKelowna #BCWildfire pic.twitter.com/5YZTRmDKL4
— KelownaNow (@KelownaNow) August 19, 2023
“We are an army out there,” West Kelowna Fire Rescue chief Jason Brolund said at this morning’s Regional District of Central Okanagan media conference.
One-hundred-twenty-seven structural firefighters and 41 fire trucks are tackling the blaze today, and despite limited visibility due to the smoke, aviation assets are still working and will continue to do so as long as it is safe.
Chief Brolund said that yesterday was one of the most difficult days of firefighting in the department’s history, but he noted there was also a reprieve last night.
"I'm cautious in saying that," he explained. “We were still fighting multiple structure fires at the same time, so to call that a reprieve boggles my mind, but winds died down and we didn’t see the dramatic glow in the sky in as many places as Thursday.”
Officials said the challenge today is the water outage in the Rose Valley neighbourhood.
Water is freely flowing from the structures that have been burned, causing a depletion of the resource and a no-outdoor-water-use restriction.
Additionally, the City of West Kelowna issued a precautionary “do not consume water order” until further notice for the entire Rose Valley Water Service area.
The number of homes lost will be counted once more progress has been made with the wildfire and the area is safe to enter.
An updated size estimate is expected to be determined later today, as the McDougall Creek wildfire is now believed to be larger than 10,500 hectares, which is what BC Wildfire Service last reported at 6 pm on Friday.
(Original story: Aug. 19 @ 8 am) - The most recent estimate by BC Wildfire Service as of 6 pm on Friday for the McDougall Creek wildfire remains at 10,500 hectares, but NASA thermal imaging indicates it has spread south and east overnight.
Officials have yet to confirm how many homes have been destroyed.
Shortly after midnight, the City of West Kelowna issued evacuation alerts for the Shannon Lake area and Smith Creek Agricultural area to Powers Creek (Glen Canyon), and the North Glenrosa neighbourhood.
Areas of North Glenrosa that are specifically within the evacuation alert are:
Residents can refer to this map if they are unsure whether they are affected.
A state of emergency was declared for the province of BC yesterday.
The most recent estimate, from earlier Friday, had approximately 15,000 people under evacuation order provincewide, and approximately 20,000 people under evacuation alert.
However, those numbers have grown given the slew of evacuation orders and alerts issued in the Central Okanagan and Shuswap Friday afternoon and evening.
KelownaNow will update this story throughout the day as the situation develops. Click this link to see our coverage of the McDougall Creek wildfire on Friday.
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