evacuation
Windstorm forces Lumby residents from their homes
VERNON - Lumby residents were evacuated from their homes over the weekend due to a major windstorm. Around 7 p.m. Saturday, Mar. 14, RCMP officers were called to a home in the 400 block of Mabel Lake Road in Lumby for a hydro hazard caused by the wind. “The wind blew a portable carport up...
Authorities evacuate residents from hazardous Enderby boarding complex
ENDERBY - Eleven people, including as many as four children, have been displaced after authorities issued a do not occupy order on the building. Kevin Alstad, local assistant to the Fire Commissioner for the City of Enderby, described the building as “a hazard requiring the immediate removal of the occupants for their own safety.” In...
Man will face the judge for what RCMP say he did during Smith Creek fire
WEST KELOWNA - The man who RCMP believe took advantage of the West Kelowna fire evacuation notice last July to break into an empty home to steal has been charged. On July 2014, West Kelowna RCMP received a report of break and enter and theft from a home in the 2500 block of Cobblestone Road....
Vet opens heart, clinic to evacuated pets
WEST KELOWNA - Evacuations can be a high stress situtation but one local vet is trying to make it easier on people and their pets by offering free kennelling for all pets displaced by the wildfire burning in West Kelowna right now. Dr. Moshe Oz , a vet with Rose Valley Veterinary Clinic, says they’ve...
Evacuees watch crews attempt to save their homes
WEST KELOWNA - Margaret Maljevac is living out of Rubbermaid bins and watching water bombers swirl above her home, hoping it will still be there when the evacuation order is lifted. Maljevac is one of thousands of residents displaced by the Smith Creek wildfire in West Kelowna, now 400 hectares large and only 20 per...
VIDEO: Smith Creek fire from above and by the numbers
KELOWNA - Take a guess: How much water have fire crews dropped on the Smith Creek fire over the past week and a half? Would you believe more than 1.2 million litres? As of Monday morning helicopters had flown more than 100 hours, skimmers had dropped more than 300 loads of water and foam and...
Lavington gas leak forces school closures
LAVINGTON - Some Lavington schools are closed Friday due to a major natural gas leak on Highway 6. Superintendent of School District 22 Joe Rogers says JW Inglis and Charles Bloom Secondary schools will be shut down while Fortis B.C. completes repairs to the gas line. Lavington Elementary School remains open. Teachers and CUPE staff...
Cargo contents would not have exploded from contact with flames: Safety Manager
KAMLOOPS – A trucking company safety manager says dangerous cargo on a trailer would not have exploded if it came into contact with its flaming tractor only feet away on Highway 1 Thursday afternoon. Caron Transportation's Safety and Compliance Manager Lily MacInnis says the container filled with 40,000 kg of Ammonium Nitrate parked 50 feet...
Crews reach 50% containment on Lytton fire
KAMLOOPS - Hydro has been restored, people are allowed to return home and crews are now able to work on hot spots in the interior of the 1,389 hectare Botanie Creek fire, which as of Thursday afternoon sits at 50 per cent contained. “The wet weather is a good thing all around,” Fire Information Officer...
Gaining ground on aggressive Lytton fire
KAMLOOPS - Crews were successful in gaining ground on the Botanie Creek fire Monday and now believe the nearly 1,400 hectare fire is 15 per cent contained. “The objectives for today are for ground crews and equipment to continue to reinforce fire guards,” Fire Information Officer Melissa Klassen says. Klassen says no further structures have been...
Power back on at Botanie Creek, fire now 25% contained
KAMLOOPS - Power is back on to the 45 properties affected by the Botanie Creek fire north of Lytton while more than 170 firefighters remain on the scene fighting the wildfire that is still 75 per cent uncontrolled today. B.C. Wildfire Fire Information Officer Melissa Klassen says the fire, which was discovered last Tuesday, remains...
Crews slowly containing Murray Lake fire
KAMLOOPS - A 340 hectare fire burning south of Merritt just off the Coquihalla Highway is now 40 per cent contained and crews continue to build on the guards already in place. Crews continue to make progress on the fire, which was just 30 per cent contained Monday, and today more than 100 crew members...
UPDATE: Wildfire near Lytton continues to roar out of control
THOMPSON-NICOLA - The ‘highly aggressive’ Botanie Road wildfire continues to threaten people's homes. The local regional district declared a state of emergency on Thursday and issued an evacuation order because of the immediate threat of the fire. About 150 people are out of their homes. The Botanie Road fire is 1.5 square kilometres in size...
One house lost as crews work to contain Botanie Creek fire
KAMLOOPS - Firefighters were able to contain a small area of the wildfire north of Lytton this weekend, but not before a house was consumed by the uncontrolled blaze. “There are two properties affected,” B.C. Wildfire Fire Information Officer Melissa Klassen says. “Unfortunately one was a house. It’s devastating. The resident has been notified by...
Crews continue to battle Murray Lake fire
KAMLOOPS - Crews continue to establish a guard around the perimeter of a 340 hectare fire just west of the Coquihalla Highway today, a week after the fire was first discovered. In total 70 crew members are on site south of Merritt, along with nine pieces of heavy equipment and five helicopters working to establish...