The Philpott road wildfire remains at 400 hectares in size and is still considered ‘out of control’.
The Philpott road wildfire remains at 400 hectares in size and is still considered ‘out of control’.
According to the BC Wildfire Service, an out of control fire “Describes a wildfire that is not responding (or only responding on a limited basis) to suppression action, such that the perimeter spread is not currently being contained.”
The fire has not grown substantially since yesterday afternoon and there's been no significant spread, thanks to cooler temperatures and calmer winds today.
About 30 BC Wildfire crews are on the ground, along with dozens of local fire detachments.
Air tankers and skimmers are still grounded because of smoke however 4 helicopters have been dousing the fire from the air with water.
The Central Okanagan Emergency Operations Centre says there are no reports of any structure damage at this time, but warn that “the fire is still very active and official damage assessments have not been completed.”
An Evacuation Order for over 470 properties, affecting about 1,100 people, remains in effect.
Highway 33 from Gallagher Rd to Big White Rd remains closed.
The Emergency Support Services reception centre at Willow Park Church (439 Highway 33 West in Kelowna) assisted 331 residents affected by the fire today and 241 yesterday.
The centre will operate tomorrow from 10:00am to 5:00pm and on Sunday from 12:30pm to 5:00pm.
Residents affected by the wildfire are eligible for up to $600 in financial assistance per household through the Canadian Red Cross, with the support of the Provincial Government. Residents can register by going online to redcross.ca or by calling 1-800-863-6582.
The Central Okanagan Emergency Operations Centre will provide any new developments on their website which can be found here.
(2:22)
The Philpott Road Wildfire is now estimated at 400 hectares in size and still considered out of control.
Justine Hunse with the BC Wildfire Service says fire growth has noticeably slowed down thanks to calmer winds and cooler temperatures, and there's been no significant spread since yesterday afternoon.
However air tankers and skimmers are grounded for now.
“The conditions are quite smoky to the point where we haven’t been able to send out fixed wing aircraft,” said Hunse “However we do have 4 helicopters out there right now that are involved in bucketing operations.”
While the fire is still out of control, Hunse says crews have established a 1 km long 'machine guard' along the east side of the fire.
“A machine guard is essentially going to be an area that our operations team have had heavy machinery move through and essentially remove forest fuel from the area so that if the fire reaches that point it won’t have any fuel to burn.”
Hunse says around 10 pieces of heavy equipment are being used build guards in the area.
The fire is displaying rank 2 to 3 behavior, which is a low to vigours surface fire with some candling.
An evacuation order for about 1,100 people remains in affect and Highway 33 remains closed.
