White Rock Lake

[Winegirl]

Not sure if you all heard on the scanner first thing this am... some moron was burning around Westside Road area on a Side by side... they called in RCMP to assist. As well as they now AGAIN have boats getting in the way of bucketing. I say they find these people they just let them sit in jail till snow hits. Or just drop the retardant, cuz clearly if your smart enough to be on a recreation vehicle in the fire zone, then they must smart enough to outrun it...

[rustled]

Crews have moved back in to the Killiney Beach area.

Thanks for all your updates!!!! SUper helpful.

Terrible situation. Hope everyone is safe.

[AltaRed]

From the Vernon page, looks like about 10 neanderthals that didn't have the sense to evacuate when they were supposed too had to be rescued by water from docks. It takes effort away from fighting the fire when this sort of silliness occurs.

He expressed frustration that North Westside Fire Rescue had to pull its boat away from the fire fight to rescue about 10 people who had ignored evacuation orders and stayed behind. He also urged boaters to stay away from the area to allow space for firefighting aircraft to work.

[mullyman]

thx lazarus for the updates...

[daveandanne]

Very sad to see that so many structures were lost but in future could these places be built with tile, or metal roofs and looking at them on my computer there is water in front and fire in the rear so it also would be a good idea after the rebuild for the owners to have a portable gas water pump and fire hoses to stop this carnage next time. Same idea goes for people that have big swimming pools with lots of water to use in an emergency.

It is too late now but there is another time and place in the near future.

[sitting rabbit]

White Rock Lake Fire – structural damage assessment begins
Monday, August 16, 2021 - 2:30pm
White Rock Lake Wildfire
News Release No. 25, Central Okanagan B.C. – 50-60 structures have been significantly damaged overnight in the Ewings Landing and Killiney areas within Central Okanagan Regional District on the west side of Okanagan Lake.

Crews will be conducting full assessment of damaged properties starting this afternoon. Officials will be working to contact property owners as possible. More information will be released as it becomes available through cordemergency.caopen_in_new.

Please be aware that wildfire evacuees from the White Rock Lake and Mount Law and Wildfires can now register by phone by calling the Emergency Support Services (ESS) call centre at 1-833-498-3770.

In person attendance at the 1480 Sutherland Avenue ESS reception centre is no longer required, however, all evacuees should register.

Crews continue active suppression efforts in the Northeast face of the White Rock Creek fire.

We continue to ask everyone on Evacuation Order to please leave immediately to allow crews to focus on fire suppression. Last night, the Fire Rescue boat needed to be pulled off of fire suppression duties to rescue people who had not left the Killiney area.

We also ask that everyone, including boaters, stay away from the area to allow access to aircraft and ground crews battling the fire. BC Wildfire has updated the White Rock Lake wildfire size to 62,273 hectares.

There are no changes in Evacuation Orders or Alerts within the Central Okanagan this morning for this wildfire.

The forecast is reporting rain and cooler conditions. Residents are reminded to remain alert and subscribed to cordermergency.caopen_in_new for updates. A detailed map showing the present status of Orders and Alerts affecting properties within the RDCO is at cordemergency.ca/mapopen_in_new.

Residents in an Alert area should remain prepared to leave their homes with short notice and to be away for an extended period of time. This includes making arrangements for pets and packing essential items such as medicines and important documents. Some ways residents can get prepared include:

Prepare a 72-hour emergency kit
Know where the water and power shut off are in your house
Have an evacuation plan, including for your pets
Visit cordemergency.ca/beprepared
The ESS centre at 1480 Sutherland Avenue is scheduled to be open today from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. unless conditions change.

On BC Wildfire advice, Temporary Access Permits allowing residents back into evacuated areas to collect items are no longer likely. This is due to the expected winds today.

Emergency response personnel request that the public:

Avoid the area so emergency responders can effectively perform their duties
Boaters are asked to steer clear of air support
Please only call 9-1-1 in case of emergency
Call *5555 on a cell phone to report a wildfire
Subscribe and follow cordemergency.ca, facebook.com/cordemergencyopen_in_new or twitter.com/CO_emergopen_in_new for official situation updates and preparedness information
For more information about this wildfire, visit cordemergency.ca, sign up for e-updates, or call the information line at 250-469-8490.
https://www.cordemergency.ca/updates/wh ... 08-16-1430

[danielaustin]

Maybe it’s been covered before but how come this fire never got any treatment from the bigger bombers? No retardant, no large drops of water. While I appreciate the skimmers and their efforts it seems like in the cooler lover activity days the bigger birds could have been pounding away at this fire… please explain. And yes I’m sure the weather was an issue but Mt law got big bombers right off the hop…

[Fancy]

Maybe it’s been covered before but how come this fire never got any treatment from the bigger bombers? No retardant, no large drops of water. While I appreciate the skimmers and their efforts it seems like in the cooler lover activity days the bigger birds could have been pounding away at this fire… please explain. And yes I’m sure the weather was an issue but Mt law got big bombers right off the hop…

Believe water tankers were used on the Monte Lake side.

[Frisk]

A lot of rain fell on it yesterday. Vernon recorded 11mm which is as much as the previous 2 months combined.

[51solelady]

A lot of rain fell on it yesterday. Vernon recorded 11mm which is as much as the previous 2 months combined.

On my knees in Thanksgiving.

[hupur]

It may have looked insignificant to the experts who don't look so expert now.Someone needs to take control of the air attack and if people or structures are in immediate danger then attack it.saving vernon when the fire was sweeping monte lake wasn't all that expert.imho.

Now that the wind is switching to coming out of the north, almost directly South, preventing the WRL fire from crossing the okanagan, heading toward Armstrong, may (with some luck) prevent the fire from sweeping the entire valley which would be 50,000 even if it just included the north okanagan. and would they be able to keep hwy 97 open so people can escape? So unfortunately a limited number of structures were lost in Monte Lake in a rank 6 fire, and some on the westside. So you know better than the people who do this for a living for many years. Apply for the job if you have better ideas than those who have been charged with this currently.

[canuck500]

You can't do much of anything when you have Rank 5 or 6 fire behaviour. It would be declared "beyond resources" & air attack + tankers would be off to find something they could do something with. It's pointless to do a drop when all it's going to do is waste money.

[Fancy]

So devastating for those that lost property.

The Okanagan Indian Band confirms 10 homes were lost on the reserve Sunday night when the White Rock Lake wildfire swept down across the Westside.

In addition, one business (the Little Kingdom store) and four dwellings were damaged.

As well, Central Okanagan Emergency Operations said late Monday that about 70 properties along Westside Road were "significantly damaged."

https://www.castanet.net/news/Vernon/34 ... ged#343078

[sitting rabbit]

Father, son battle White Rock Lake wildfire for Okanagan Indian Band
CAITLIN CLOW Aug. 17, 2021 1:30 p.m.

https://www.abbynews.com/news/father-so ... dian-band/

Comment: an excellent read

[Handsonmycontrols]

Removed by request of poster