The FINANCIAL — Thousand of people have been forced to leave their homes in British Columbia as wild fires spread near the city of Kelowna. Wind and dry conditions have fuelled the blazes which broke out on 18 July in the hills along Okanagan Lake, west of the city of Kelowna, No injuries or deaths have been reported in the latest fires, the cause of the fire is unknown.
The Glenrosa fire, which was the first to erupt, had grown to 988 acres, while the Rose Valley Dam fire, which broke out a few kilometers (miles) to the north, had grown to 370.5 acres, as Reuters reported .The Glenrosa fire was about 40 percent contained, but the canyon terrain of the Rose Valley blaze was hampering ground crew's efforts to build a fire guard, officials said. A third fire burning out of control northwest of Kelowna had grown to 2,099.5 acres. It did not threaten any populated areas but was adding to smoke problems in the area.
Housing in the area has encroached on the surrounding forest in recent years. "The winds are definitely adding to the fire activity," said Elise Riedlinger, a spokeswoman for the British Columbia Forest Service, according to Sky News. No injuries or deaths have been reported, but as many as nine buildings are feared to have been destroyed. Crews were able to protect a large sawmill complex that had been threatened, local media reported.
Local media said human activity was suspected to have sparked the blazes because there had been no lightning storms in the area, BBC gives information. Some residents told the Province newspaper that the larger fire may have started near a lumber mill which was also being threatened by the flames.
Reuters reported that about 17,000 people have been told to either leave their homes or be ready to evacuate on a moment's notice if asked by emergency officials.
Comparisons to the 2003 Kelowna fires are inevitable. But these are different. These fires are burning in forests closer to industries, to transportation centers, and around neighborhoods where houses are more scattered, where access to them may be more difficult, as National Post informs. There were reports yesterday of firefighters calling the fires and the conditions around them the worst they had ever witnessed.
The communities of Glenrosa and Rose Valley are now virtually deserted, save for emergency response teams and fire crews, according to the same source. About 6,500 homes have been cleared out since July 18; yesterday night, reports were that only a few residents remained in their homes and were refusing to leave. Highway 97, a major route running through West Kelowna, was closed on Sunday and will likely remain so until the fires can be beaten back.
Police said the cause of fires is under investigation but the provincial fire service said it did not believe they were related, as Sky News reported. Helicopters and aircraft dropped water and fire retardant on flames to back up more than 200 firefighters working on the ground.
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