Kamloops, B.C. — A fire burning near Kelowna grew at a "phenomenal" rate in the past 24 hours, increasing in size to 9,000 hectares from 2,000 hectares, officials said Wednesday.
As a result, about 2,000 homes in various Okanagan suburbs were on evacuation alert, along with another 1,000 residents of the Naramata area, to the south of the fire.
The fire was also acting in an unusal manner, spreading both north and south of its position near Kelowna's Mission suburb, said fire information officer Kevin Matuga, partly because of winds on Tuesday.
Mr. Matuga, speaking at Wednesday morning press conference, said the fire is racing because of the continued dry conditions and few man-made or natural fireblocks.
A waterbomber drops its load on the fires front near Kelowna, B.C. Tuesday. (Kip Frasz/CP)
He said the spread was too much for the fire crews to overcome Tuesday.
Mr. Matuga said winds from the north and west pushed the flames into an area of continuous fuel on Tuesday, allowing for the creation of "flame fronts stretching for as much as two kilometres.
Those fronts chewed through timber at rates of up to 50 metres a minute, he said.
Kelowna fire crews are working alongside forestry personnel trying to save several properties.
No new evacuation orders had been given for the area as firefighters continued to assess the inferno's behaviour, said B.C. Fire Commissioner Bruce Cousins.
"It's going to depend on fire action," he said.
Aquila Power crews were on standby, waiting for a possible call to cut power to the area if a major transmission line is threatened.
Near Kamloops, forestry crews were hoping for more favourable winds after the McLure-Barriere wildfire, which already consumed dozens of homes and trailers earlier this month, went on a run Tuesday night.
The B.C. government also announced Tuesday it had established a provincial fire department to provide greater flexibility in deploying resources.
The new department, which will be based in Cranbrook and Kamloops, will allow the Office of the Fire Commissioner to draw on resources such as crews and equipment from any jurisdiction within British Columbia to help protect threatened communities.
Meanwhile, the B.C. government issued a number of travel bans Wednesday to prevent people starting more fires in back-country areas.Travellers are asked to avoid the back-country in the entire southern half of the province. While the travel advisory is voluntary, the government will move to ban travellers from certain parts of the province if more fires are started by people in recreational areas.
Full travel restrictions are already in place in the Flathead Country of the Kooteneys.
