A fast-burning wildfire threatening West Kelowna, B.C., is challenging firefighting crews as they brace for what the operations director with BC Wildfire Service has predicted will be the most challenging days of the season so far. Smoke from the McDougall Creek wildfire is seen from Westbank, B.C., Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Joe O'Connal
WEST KELOWNA, B.C. – Homes are currently ablaze in West Kelowna, B.C., after a devastating overnight battle with a wildfire that has already destroyed a significant number of properties.
The fire has been “exponentially worse” than expected, says Jason Brolund, chief of the West Kelowna fire department.
Brolund told a briefing that first responders became trapped while rescuing people who failed to heed evacuation warnings as the McDougall Creek wildfire advanced rapidly toward the community, in what he says was a firefighter’s “worst nightmare.”
However, Central Okanagan Regional District Chairman Loyal Woodridge says there has been no known loss of life.
Brolund says the fight against the fire isn’t over and residents face another “scary night,” with conditions today even worse than those that whipped up the blaze on Thursday.
The BC Wildfire Service says the fire is now 68 square kilometres in size, up from 11 square kilometres late Thursday afternoon.
Brolund says it was a “devastating night,” and probably the toughest of his firefighting career.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 18, 2023.
