Fire danger extreme in Kelowna for the next few days

KELOWNA – City officials say the fire danger rating for the Kelowna area is now extreme and is forecast to remain so over the next two days.

Residents and visitors should remember open burning and fireworks are not allowed with city boundaries, Kelowna Fire Department fire inspector Rick Euper says in a press release.

Euper also says smoking is banned in all city parks, although the city has not yet closed Knox Mountain Park to vehicle traffic.

An extreme danger rating means forest fuels are very dry, new fires will start easily and spread rapidly and will pose a challenge to firefighters.

In a sign of just how fast local conditions can change, the Kamloops Fire Centre, which covers the Central Okanagan, had a fire danger rating of moderate throughout much of the region as of yesterday at noon.


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John McDonald

John McDonald

John began life as a journalist through the Other Press, the independent student newspaper for Douglas College in New Westminster. The fluid nature of student journalism meant he was soon running the place, learning on the fly how to publish a newspaper.

It wasn’t until he moved to Kelowna he broke into the mainstream media, working for Okanagan Sunday, then the Kelowna Daily Courier and Okanagan Saturday doing news graphics and page layout. He carried on with the Kelowna Capital News, covering health and education while also working on special projects, including the design and launch of a mass market daily newspaper. After 12 years there, John rejoined the Kelowna Daily Courier as editor of the Westside Weekly, directing news coverage as the Westside became West Kelowna.

But digital media beckoned and John joined Kelowna.com as assistant editor and reporter, riding the start-up as it at first soared then went down in flames. Now John is turning dirt as city hall reporter for iNFOnews.ca where he brings his long experience to bear on the civic issues of the day.

If you have a story you think people should know about, email John at jmcdonald@infonews.ca