Forest Fire burning houses in West Kelowna

[habernac]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

this is why as a kid growing up in the Okanagan with a dad who drove a logging truck, i get really annoyed at enviromentalists who bitch about clear cutting. nature does a lot more clear cutting of her own than man could ever do, and an old forest that's been cut down and replanted with younger trees stops fires like these since there's no old timber left to burn

Man is the reason fires are bad. If we left fires to burn themselves out, there would be little or no fuel for them to burn. Clear cutting still sucks. You don't want to deal with the possibility of your house burning down? Don't live in the woods.

[dercoch]

Hi. Sitting in Kelowna looking across the lake at the smoke coming up.

It looks like it's calmer today than yesterday, but that doesn't say much as you can't see the flames during the day. Last night you could see the Rose Valley fire from my house. That one is troublesome as the area is surrounded by steep terrain so ground crews can't get in easily.

The Mt Boucherie Rd area (and the rest of Lakeview Heights) is safe right now. The Rose Valley fire (150 hectares) is the one closer to that area, and is quite far away. There would have to be a huge shift for that area to be threatened.

The Glenrosa fire (400 hectares) is on the other side of Westbank, but there is a fire guard set up between the town and the fire. People don't seem to think it is too dangerous, but I can't say that I feel the same. They have it 40% contained, but that's not enough to dismiss it if you ask me.

The fire out by Fintry is the biggest one, but it's burning in an uninhabited area right now. Its 850 hectares in size and burning a bunch of pine beetle wood.

I'm listening to a press confrence right now, but there is no real new information coming through. If I can answer the questions you guys might have about this, shoot away and I'll tell you what I know.

[malcolmk14]

Driving out to Kelowna on Friday for a few days. What's the smoke situation like on the East side of the lake, around Hobson Road?

[dercoch]

The smoke situation in Kelowna is not bad right now. Last night there was ash falling all over the city and a huge cloud of dark smoke over us as well. It's cleared up overnight and remains fairly clear. You can still smell the smoke, but it's not overwhelming by any means. It's all relative, I guess. It's still a bit disconcerting to see smoke in town at all, but I would say that there is only minor smoke in Kelowna at this time. There is still an advisory out for people with chronic lung or heart conditions. They are telling those people to avoid lots of outdoor activities and to stop whatever they are doing if breathing becomes difficult. The Hobson Rd area is on the lake across from the fires and should not be too bad. You would have a good view of what is going on from there if the fires aren't brought under control by then. Hopefully, they will be.

One more thing. The local website (Castanet.net) has a discussion board dedicated to fires right now. There are some guys that refused evacuation from Glenrosa and are continuing to post replies into the forum. As with any message board, there is some junk to wade through, but you can follow what is going on pretty well.

http://forums.castanet.net/viewforum.php?f=64

[Language]

Great, I drive out to Penticton on Thursday. Is a major detour in order for me if Highway 97 is closed south of Kelowna?

[Madman]

Originally Posted by leonk19

Great, I drive out to Penticton on Thursday. Is a major detour in order for me if Highway 97 is closed south of Kelowna?

Go the south way through Crowsnest and save the headache.

[Winsor_Pilates]

Originally Posted by leonk19

Great, I drive out to Penticton on Thursday. Is a major detour in order for me if Highway 97 is closed south of Kelowna?

Yeah, there's marked detour between Kelowna and Penticton. It's quite easy and takes a little less then 2 hours. It's likely your best bet. I've drove it both today and yesterday and they're working really hard to make it smoother and smoother by the day.

I actually think the hwy will be open by Thursday, but if not that's your other option.

[schteve_d]

Originally Posted by Frankster

How close is this to Westbank? I have an uncle who lives in Westbank on the hill above the golf course...

My parents live on the hill above the golf course, assuming it's the same one - above the new Walmart. I talked to them today and they are relatively out of danger right now but can certainly see the fires from their porch. Their neighbour told them they are on evacuation alert but they have not heard anything official themselves. They've loaded the car with photo albums, important documents and such and are ready to go on very little notice just in case. They said today they are not worried but a shift in the wind could change that quickly.

[Winsor_Pilates]

Just a heads up; the highways are back open.

[edn88]

Sounds like some miscreants took advantage of the fire situation...

http://www.canada.com/news/Looted+ho...474/story.html

[alltherage]

Originally Posted by edn88

Sounds like some miscreants took advantage of the fire situation...

http://www.canada.com/news/Looted+ho...474/story.html

That fataing pisses me off. I have friends and family up there who are so choked, and now this garbage.

[flylock shox]

Bumping this thread.

The Terrace Mountain fire (the one that they were largely ignoring at the outset because it wasn't near a populated area) doubled in size in the last 24 hours to 4000 hectares (which is about 9000 soccer fields for those on the metric system). It has caused a fresh round of evacuations in neighbourhoods on the outskirts of Kelowna.

Link.

And a cool video.