Carelessness or something more sinister is believed to have caused the wildfires burning in West Kelowna, officials said Monday.
“All three fires, we believe, are human caused,” Rob Moore of the B.C. Forestry Service said.
Lightning had earlier been ruled out as a cause because there were no thunderstorms in the area when the fire broke out on Saturday afternoon.
A four-person team of investigators is now trying to determine the precise cause of the fire, reporters were told at a morning briefing.
“It could have been accidental,” Moore said of the fire origins. “We are hoping they were not deliberately set, and we have no reason to believe they were.”
More than 12,000 West Kelowna residents remained out of their homes Monday as evacuation orders relating to two wildfires remained in place. About 10,000 people have been forced out by the Glenrosa fire, and another 1,250 by a fire in the Rose Valley area. Six thousand more are on evacuation alerts. Three West Kelowna homes have been destroyed.
Police have quizzed “a very small handful of persons” about why they were found inside the West Kelowna neighbourhoods that have been evacuated, said RCMP Cpl. Dan Moskuluk.
So far, however, police patrols through the restricted areas have found no evidence of looting.
“We haven‘t seen any ongoing, blatant evidence of break-and-enters or mischief,” Moskuluk said.
A three-kilometre stretch of Highway 97 near Gorman‘s mill was closed all day Monday, forcing drivers on long-distance detours with a backwoods trip between Kelowna and Penticton on the east side of Okanagan Lake taking two hours on a gravel road (See drivebc.ca for route information).
Fires burning close to either side of Highway 97 in a canyon area are being worked by helicopters dumping bucketfuls of water, and by air tankers dropping flame retardant gel. After a lot of red, it‘s now blue.
“Highway 97 will reopen once authorities determine it is safe to drive on the highway,” B.C. Public Safety Minister and Solicitor-General Kash Heed said Monday morning.
n The Glenrosa area fire was said Monday to cover less than 300 ha, and was being worked by 133 firefighters and nine helicopters. A fire near Rose Valley dam was about 10 per cent contained after being battled mainly by helicopters, as the steep, rough terrain made working on the ground difficult.
The largest fire was one near Terrace Mountain, 20 kilometres west of the North Westside road community of Fintry. It has expanded to more than 1,300 hectares, and a dozen residents on the Fintry High Farm area were put on an evacuation alert.
As he flew into the Central Okanagan early Monday to survey the damaged cause by the fires, Heed said: “I just couldn‘t believe the devastation it‘s caused. … I‘m just in awe.
“The province is here to do whatever we can to help the residents of Kelowna and the surrounding area,” Heed added. Top of Page
