2700 People Evacuated in Kelowna

NEW EVACUATIONS AT TERRACE MOUNTAIN


New evacuation orders were issued in the Kelowna area Saturday, forcing a total of 2,500 people in the Fintry area out of their homes.

About 1,000 residents in the Muirallen Estates, Fintry Delta, Upper Fintry/Dunwaters Estates, Valley of the Sun and La Casa areas were ordered just before 6 p.m. to leave their homes and head south toward Kelowna along Westside Road, due increased activity from the nearby Terrace Mountain fire.

At about 8:30 p.m., the emergency operations centre issued a second evacuation for 1,500 residents in communities formerly on standby.

Residents in Caesar's Landing, Wilson’s Landing/Trader’s Cove, Nahun, Shelter Cove, and the district lots off South Terrrace Main, as well as residents living on Bear Creek Main to Bear Lake and near Bear Creek Provincial Park, were ordered to evacuate to West Kelowna's emergency centre.

Another 10 properties in the Fintry High Farm area are also on evacuation order.

The centre also warned of a planned power outage for residents still on alert in the Killiney and Westshore-Beau Park areas, as B.C. Hydro had to cut power to some lines threatened by the blaze for safety reasons.

An emergency reception centre is set up at Mount Boucherie Senior Secondary School at 2751 Cameron Rd. in West Kelowna.

Some campers and tenters at Bear Creek Provincial Park were offered space on the school grounds or at the Wal-Mart on Louie Drive, but officials warned accommodations for other displaced tourists were scarce in town due to the long weekend. They were asking anyone with room available for evacuees to come to speak with volunteers.

The latest fire-status update earlier Saturday had Terrace Mountain 90-per-cent contained and holding steady at about 4,500 hectares. The human-caused blaze was first spotted July 18.