Lake Country fire chief emotional over heroic efforts

Lake Country Fire Chief Darren Lee was visibly moved at Sunday’s Central Okanagan fire update over the superhuman efforts being made by firefighters.

“I just want to congratulate all our firefighters. You know, for thousands of years, just regular people step up to be warriors to protect their villages, protect their neighbours. There are people out there working 36 to 48 hour shifts and they take an absolute beating. They know their family has been evacuated while they are trying to defend their neighbours home,” Lee said.

Evacuation orders and alerts will remain in place in Lake Country for now.

“We will continue to harden around the structures. I think through the efforts, and the changing weather conditions like the winds lightening up, we have had a lot of real success and we are making the best of this opportunity by throwing a ton of resources at this fire today,” Lee stated.

People on alert leaving their sprinklers on has presented some challenges for firefighters getting enough water pressure.

“If you are on alert, or on the periphery of the alert, we just ask you please don’t run your sprinklers. If you do go on order, we will use your sprinklers, we will turn them on. All that extra irrigation right now is really stressing our water system. We need to use that water to defend your neighbours homes that are in immediate danger,” Lee said.

The Clarke Creek fire is currently estimated at 174 hectares, with three evacuation orders. There have been confirmed structural losses, some in the Okanagan Centre area, but no numbers or other details have been released.