ltt

hello. can anyone tell me of a good website to check the status of the fire by kelowna or if people in the area can give us updates throughout the day(s), it would be appreciated. let's pray for rain.

Borealis

Try this one:

http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/pScripts/Pr....asp?Page=News

Borealis

The national (Canadian gov't) website about forest wild fires is:
http://cwfis.cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/en/index_e.php

The Weather Network also has info on the fires:
http://www.theweathernetwork.com/features/firewatch/

Try a Google search (specifying Canadian websites) for news items relating to the current forest fires - these will provide descriptions and some photos etc..

stew

I just saw on the BC news that the fire in Kelowna has taken a turn for the worse. People living in the lower mission area and Lakeshore drive area may have to evacuate. As of 5pm they were optimistic, now 4 1/2 hours later, it sounds outta control...and heading towards the city.

Lynette

Just got home to Kelowna this evening, from a couple of weeks away. We live downtown, so we are fine for now. The whole south side of the city, in the hills, (Lakeshore road, Chute Lake Rd), were evacuated this evening, and the radio just announced that Crawford Estates, and Southeast Kelowna up to Gallaghers Canyon has just been evacuated. (they are saying about 10,000 people).
The air is so thick with smoke, that you cannot see the fire from the lake,
but we saw it earlier from the westside of the lake and it looks huge. So far no new homes have been lost, but it is now about 3 kms from the Kettle Valley development.

April

This is heart-wrenching to see. From photos from Peachland and pictures on the tv news I am astounded by the amount of smoke coming from that fire. I'm wondering how the air is to breathe in Kelowna, Naramata and surrounding areas.

luna

My sister lives in the Rutland area of Kelowna - so far they aren't in danger of evacuation, but if the wind changes that may not be the case. I spoke to her yesterday - she says that it looks like it's raining, but the "rain" is ash. Visibility is poor - she can't see the mountains that surround Kelowna from her back deck (normally they're quite visible and close). She is having a hard time breathing, and she's not asthmatic - the air quality is quite poor. Most residents are staying in with the a/c running to avoid getting the smoke indoors. Yes, let's all pray for a long, hard, soaking rainfall in the Okanagan.

Lynette

This morning a thick blanket of smoke is making the sky totally gray.
The air quality is extremely poor, and it is advised to stay indoors. It is not raining ash this morning at my place, like it was last night, but cars parked outside have a thick layer of ash on them. The fire information officer is saying that 15 homes were lost in the Rimrock/Timberline subdivision last night, but at least that many were also saved. The fireguard behind Kettle Valley has held, and so nothing has been lost there. The whole upper mission has been evacuated and the lower mission is on 1 hour alert now. The fire has now grown to 17000 hectares. Right now the winds are calm, but 20 - 40km winds are called for this afternoon. Let us hope that does not materialize. Firefighters are doing an amazing job, and the media is keeping us well informed.

Lynette

One more thing......
You can get any info you need about the fire situation at
www.castanet.net

April

Thanks, Lynette. I wondered why no Mars bombers were there and it is explained (sort of) at that site.

stew

They said on the news today that there are two mars bombers, one is on Vancouver Island in care of a fire around there and/or the lower mainland, one is fighting a fire in the Kootenays?? or somewhere else. They said that the mars bombers were not needed for the Kelowna fire due to the way they are fighting it..something like that...and the real kicker, both mars bombers are privately owned, and they cost the government $10,000 a day to use!!!

April

I believe one had gone to the Vaseux Lake fire but don't know if it's still there. There has been quite a bit of discussion about the Mars bomber on the "Fire discussion forum" at: http://castanet.firewatch.net/

I am so grateful to Lynette for posting that website as it is a great source of information. We're still waiting to hear if a relative's house is still standing or not.

luna

Thanks for the link, Lynette - I can track what's happening more closely this way.

Lynette

Your welcome.
While we have constant news coverge here, I know it has been difficult to get much info if you are not in the coverage area. Glad to hear it was useful.

keldar

If anyone wants coverage on the devastating fires not sure why no one has mentioned our national news service.
www.cbc.ca/news/
There is a specific box to click on to check on the fires.

Borealis

Keldar - CBC gets its information from somewhere, so why not go directly to the source instead of relying on a broadcaster :-? ???

keldar

sorry borealis for pushing one of your buttons......
Last time I checked those reporters in the thick of things were CBC reporters ....that's what CBC broadcasters do for a living i.e report real stories live......
Not sure where you're from but that's what happens where I live. As far as I'm concerned they ARE the source you refer to.

2jacks

The winds are wild here today in So. Alberta, hopefully not as bad in Kelowna, yesterday heard that there was a fire at Cranbrook also, and that many had been evacuated but nothing further.

The firefighters from the Crownsnest Pass fire have mostly been moved to BC. They are amazing, it is my "prayer" that they will do as good a job for you as they did for us.

Borealis

Keldar - I have no buttons!!

The info supplied by CBC (or any other news broadcaster) is not always reliable (in my experience).

Right now, because the forest fire situation is "hot" news, there is more information available.

But it was not always the case.

Just a few weeks ago, at the beginning of August, we had planned to travel through Jasper to Kamloops. It was a lucky thing that at the last minute I decided to check the road conditions in B.C., there was almost no info on the CBC website at that time (I actually did look believe it or not), so I searched the B.C. gov website - and found out that highway 5 was closed because of the forest fire at Barriere.

Do you work for the CBC???

keldar

my goodness borealis but you seem to be an angry person.
The question asked by the initial poster requested information regarding the status of the fire. It didn't mention anything specific. I merely answered the question, sorry I didn't check with you first to see if you approved of my answer or not.
This board is for people to respond to questions. People can use the information as they see fit. I don't believe in questioning others answers unless they are completely wrong.(and even then civility or just ignoring the comments if you don't happen to agree)
As for my answer ask yourself the following,,,,does CBC have information on their radio,TV and website about the fires, do they have reporters etc in the areas where the fires are? Yes they do. Therefore I have answered the question correctly. Your answer provided people with assistance, mine was in addition to that.
I'm afraid you do have buttons whether you want to admit it or not. Allow others their two pennies worth please and keep your snide remarks to yourself.

I repeat my answer to "ltt".........CBC is an excellent source for updates on the fire. there is a dedicated area on their website about the fires.
I was just in BC over the weekend and found the information to be very helpful, informative and up to date.
I concede that if the poster had requested road reports I would have directed them somewhere else, as they did not CBC and others like it remain a good source.
(and no borealis I am not an employee of CBC, I spend my working days in health care...........
I