Homes ablaze in West Kelowna, B.C. after overnight wildfire

WEST KELOWNA, B.C. – Homes are currently ablaze in West Kelowna, B.C., after a devastating overnight battle with a wildfire that has already destroyed a significant number of properties.

The fire has been “exponentially worse” than expected, says Jason Brolund, chief of the West Kelowna fire department.

Brolund told a briefing that first responders became trapped while rescuing people who failed to heed evacuation warnings as the McDougall Creek wildfire advanced rapidly toward the community, in what he says was a firefighter’s “worst nightmare.”

However, Central Okanagan Regional District Chairman Loyal Woodridge says there has been no known loss of life.

Brolund says the fight against the fire isn’t over and residents face another “scary night,” with conditions today even worse than those that whipped up the blaze on Thursday.

The BC Wildfire Service says the fire is now 68 square kilometres in size, up from 11 square kilometres late Thursday afternoon.

Brolund says it was a “devastating night,” and probably the toughest of his firefighting career.

Feature image: Smoke from the McDougall Creek fire is seen over Okanagan Lake from Kelowna, B.C., on Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Joe O’Connal