Approximately 200 structures destroyed by Central Okanagan wildfires

Final numbers have yet to be released but the number of homes destroyed by Central Okanagan wildfires over the past few days could be in the range of 200.

Fewer than 70 homes were lost in West Kelowna and fewer than 20 on Westbank First Nation lands, West Kelowna Fire Rescue chief Jason Brolund said during a news conference today, Aug 22.

Hardest hit by the McDougall Creek Wildfire were the Traders Cove and Lake Okanagan Resort areas with fewer than 100 homes lost, North Westside Fire Rescue chief Ross Kotscherofski said. Three homes were destroyed by the Walrod Lake Wildfire in Kelowna and another three by the Clarke Creek Wildfire in Lake Country.

More accurate numbers may be released later today and some homeowners have already been informed of their losses, but it may take days before everyone is notified.

Brolund said the mountains have been shrouded with smoke since fire advanced last week, and the landscape is going to look different when the skies clear.

"It might be pretty dramatic to start to see what we've lost out there," he said.

He said crews tackled two dozen spot fires overnight, but he feels like they're starting to turn the corner in fighting the devastating blazes.

“As numbers are released over the coming days, we must remember that these are people’s lives and communities that are going to be deeply hurting for quite some time,” Loyal Wooldridge, chair of the Regional District of Central Okanagan, said.

All evacuees who were forced to camp out at Prospera Place were put into hotel rooms last night and the backlog for processing evacuees is easing.

— With files from The Canadian Press

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