Westside Road about 5k N of Lk Okanagan Resort

[maryjane48]

A few pictures of the fire.
http://www.castanet.net/edition/news-st ... htm#144495

i just viewed the pics that is a big fire , lots fuel there

[Swoop]

A few pictures of the fire.
http://www.castanet.net/edition/news-st ... htm#144495

i just viewed the pics that is a big fire , lots fuel there

...very difficult terrain as well with little to no access for ground vehicles in a number of areas...

[oneh2obabe]

Keep it civil. This is a serious matter and off-topic comments and personal attacks/insults aren't welcome or necessary. They will be edited and/or deleted w/o explanation.

[erazmus]

Does anyone have any insight on why there's no updates at www.cordemegency.ca ? All of the news reports are saying that there have been evacuations, but there's nothing on the CORD site about it.

[Swoop]

Does anyone have any insight on why there's no updates at http://www.cordemegency.ca ? All of the news reports are saying that there have been evacuations, but there's nothing on the CORD site about it.

...I would assume being an official agency they have to corroborate information as fact and issue directives from emergency personnel...given the highly volatile situation, I'm sure the situation is more than just fluid, but changing by the minute...very difficult scenario for all emergency responders...

[dieselDaryl]

Fire has seemed to slow down with the wind slowing down as well. Has moved quite a bit up the ridge (about 3/4 of the way) and with the wind is mainly moving north. At its most Northern extent, its probably due west of Shelter Cove road. (Update) The fire down near the water is out. From what I could tell from the binoculars, the spot down at the water was on someones property or possibly on their staircase to the lake.

Last night, after actioning, the 2nd heli landed up above the road last night and left early this morning. The faintest amounts of smoke came up around 4pm or so but would come and go, it was very little. I assumed that was the ground crews on it, although it's probably in very difficult territory. Around 2 hours ago, I did see fire truck lights on a road up north of where the initial strike was but they probably pulled back down due to the aggressiveness of the fire.

It was amazing how quickly the helis got it under control last night. about 20 minutes after the lighting strike, it was candling and smoking pretty good, and they were on it hard and fast before it got dark.

[Swoop]

http://www.cordemergency.ca/CM/Page3353 ... ID=5985554

An Evacuation Order is being prepared and a tactical evacuation is underway of residences and properties along Westside Road near Shelter Cove between La Casa and Lake Okanagan Resort.

BC Wildfire Service and Wilson’s Landing Fire Department crews are on the scene fighting this blaze, which was ignited yesterday by lightning and flared up this evening with the very gusty winds.

Residents from the following addresses in the Shelter Cove subdivision are being evacuated by the RCMP: 4401 to 4163 Westside Road.

These residents are asked to report to the Emergency Support Services reception centre at the Westbank Lions Community Hall, 2466 Main Street in West Kelowna. Volunteers will be on hand after 1130pm to assist evacuated residents with food, lodging and clothing needs.

In addition, an Evacuation Alert is in place for residents and properties along Denison Road as well as Camp Mewata and in Caesars Landing. These residents should be prepared to leave their homes on short notice should conditions require an Evacuation Order.

People are requested to stay away from the immediate area and RCMP is doing traffic control.

The Emergency Operation Centre has been activated to support crews in the field responding to this incident.

New information will be released to the public through the media and cordemergency.ca as soon as it becomes available.

[mtn living]

Central Okanagan Emergencies
The following update has been posted to CORDemergency.ca:


Shelter Cove Fire News Release 1
07/20/2015 11:02 PM PDT


An Evacuation Order is being prepared and a tactical evacuation is underway of residences and properties along Westside Road near Shelter Cove between La Casa and Lake Okanagan Resort. BC Wildfire Service and Wilson’s Landing Fire Department crews are on the scene fighting this blaze, which was ignited yesterday by lightning and flared up this evening with the very gusty winds. Residents from the following addresses in the Shelter Cove subdivision are being evacuated by the RCMP: 4401 to 4163 Westside Road. These residents are asked to report to the Emergency Support Services reception centre at the Westbank Lions Community Hall, 2466 Main Street in West Kelowna. Volunteers will be on hand after 1130pm to assist evacuated residents with food, ...

For more details, visit http://www.cordemergency.ca/CM/Page3353.aspx

[Tootsie]

Winds have significantly shifted. Smoke was blowing from the west towards OK Centre but now strong winds are pushing the flames north.

[Farmmaa]

Wow...even from Gallaghers you can see the winds driving this thing ! It's so bright, you can actually see the smoke swirling and gusting in the glow.
From here it looks to have doubled in the last hour or so. :(

[BoB76]

Global said one house gone. Unconfirmed though..

[Joshmite0904]

Does it look as bad or has it calmed down a lot??

[Farmmaa]

Does it look as bad or has it calmed down a lot??

Not calming down at all....looks to be growing. Winds are still strong and gusting.

[Joshmite0904]

Direction?

[trapp]

We're watching and can confirm there is a fire near the houses down by the water. The wind must be pretty strong over there still since there are hotspots all over the place. The house that went up is quite a ways from the "main" fire.

I don't usually post things of this tone, but its incredibly frustrating to see this happen. The two helicopters actioned it last night and knocked it down. No smoke all day, I don't know why they didn't have a small crew in there mopping it up. Once the winds picked up tonight that was it. Now its a BIG problem thats going to take waaay more resources, risk people's houses, firefighters, lives, etc. Think forestry would have learned from the "small" fire that started off Rattlesnake Island 12 years ago.

Stay safe, west siders!

I really resent those remarks. I happen to know there were mop crews there all day. It is comments and rumors like this that from an arm chair fire expert that we live with for ten years or more. It takes just one hot spot to surface in these winds and the fire blows up. There are fires everywhere taking off this evening. This is not the fault of crew that are working to their limit. IA crews actioning fires with follow up of mop up crews. Crews that are actioning more than one fire every day with these multiple fire starts. Crews that are timing out as well as pilots that are timing out and their machines requiring maintenance.

We are in a bad situation with resources stretched to the limit and you blame Fire Control with unfounded remarks.