Fire chief updates wildfire losses, premier tours fire zones

West Kelowna’s fire chief said the total number of homes damaged or destroyed in his community by the McDougall Creek wildfire is less than 90.

Jason Brolund told Tuesday’s media update (Aug. 22) that works out to about 70 in the city and 20 on the Westbank First Nation.

Brolund also noted firefighters saved over 3,000 homes from damage.

The fire chief also reported they are not aware of any loss of life or missing people due to the fire.

“That’s very encouraging news for all of us involved in this,” Brolund remarked.

Brolund along with fire chiefs Travis Whiting of Kelowna and Jason Lee of Lake Country all said progress continues to be made on the three fires, called the Grouse Complex, and some of the evacuation orders have been downgraded to alerts, with more to come once it’s deemed safe.

“We will get people back as soon as it’s safe which is the key priority,” Whiting said.

Brolund said his department is meeting with the BC Wildfire Service several times daily to decide when they can remove the evacuation orders.

Kelowna chief Whiting said his city’s property losses was three houses and two outbuildings on four properties. The three houses were on two properties on Glenmore Road adjacent of the Glenmore landfill, north of the Shady Lane Trailer Park and south of the Glenmore dog park.

Lake Country chief Lee said a total of three homes were lost throughout the district and not concentrated in one area. A number of outbuildings were lost as well.

Ross Kotscherofski, fire chief of the North Westside Fire Department, said they have some preliminary info on property losses but want to make sure it’s accurate before releasing it.
He also confirmed no loss of life from the fires in his area and reported little fire activity in the last 24 hours.

Loyal Wooldridge, chair of the Central Okanagan Regional District, said Premier David Eby, Emergency Management Minister Bowinn Ma and federal minister Harjit Sajjan are touring the fire zones in the Okanagan and Shuswap today.

“The intention of the visit is to get a lay of the land and to understand what the need is in the region,” Wooldridge told the media conference. “The premier will be viewing the damage and it will be a continued partnership with the provincial and federal governments while we look to recovery which will be the big task ahead of us.”

Wooldridge said it’s premature at this point to put a dollar figure on the funding support that is needed from senior governments.