Non-essential travel to the southern Interior has been restricted as 27,000 people are under evacuation orders, around a third of them in the Kelowna area.
Tune in for ongoing coverage of the wildfire situation on CBC Radio One at 88.9 FM in Kelowna, 96.9 FM in Salmon Arm, or by using the CBC Listen app.
More than 50 structures have been fully or partially destroyed by an aggressive wildfire in West Kelowna, B.C., according to the Okanagan city’s fire chief.
Jason Brolund told a news conference Monday morning that crews are trying to systematically survey the areas hit by the McDougall Creek fire to determine the extent of the damage.
“We’re not done yet and the most damaged neighbourhoods are still to come,” he said.
Brolund said the job of tallying the damage has been challenging because some address markers were destroyed by the fire and street signs have melted, while downed power lines, ruined roads and fallen trees have made it unsafe to enter some areas.
Firefighters in West Kelowna have difficulty identifying locations
11 hours ago
Duration 1:08
West Kelowna Fire Chief Jason Brolund reported that firefighting crews are finding addresses on buildings have been burned away, if the entire building itself hadn’t already crumbled, and street signs have melted.
In one neighbourhood, he said, it looked like a hurricane had blown through.
“Trees were ripped out by their roots. The force to make that happen is incredible,” Brolund said.
But he reassured residents that a number of neighbourhoods in the city have been relatively untouched by the fire, with no structures lost.
Brolund added that as conditions have quietened in the last 24 hours, no other structures have been destroyed.
“What’s happening out there is the day-to-day grind of firefighting,” he said, applauding the work of firefighters from across the province who’ve come together to protect West Kelowna.
Video of homes burning
Some residents of West Kelowna are learning their homes are gone through unofficial channels.
Chris Erickson left his West Kelowna home Thursday as wildfire approached and the next day, he saw a photo of his home in a local newspaper.
“You see just huge flames up in the trees, and at the bottom of the photo, you could see the roof of our house,” he said.
Later, a neighbour sent him footage from a doorbell camera that confirmed the damage.
“It’s quite the experience witnessing your house engulfed in flames before it collapses in on itself,” he said from a hotel room in Merritt, B.C. “Watching that is hard.”
Chris Erickson’s home was one of more than 50 structures lost in the McDougall Creek fire in West Kelowna. Erickson watched video footage taken by his neighbour’s doorbell camera of his home in the Rose Valley neighbourhood burning to the ground. Despite losing his residence, Erickson is thanking his neighbours for their kindness and support.
Seagun Laboucane had a similar experience while scrolling through social media.
“I was sitting having dinner when I first saw … a picture of what I thought was my house on fire,” she said, adding that later footage would confirm the loss.
“It didn’t feel real.”
Firefighters working back-to-back shifts
According to Brolund, some West Kelowna firefighters are working back-to-back shifts, taking the usual calls from the fire hall at night before heading out to fight the wildfire in the morning.
He said one firefighter was scheduled to become a Canadian citizen on Monday, and will now have to participate in the ceremony by Zoom from behind the fire lines.
“What an important thing and what a massive sacrifice to make,” Brolund said.
West Kelowna fire chief emotional as he thanks crews for dedication
Jason Brolund says firefighters are working back-to-back shifts and coming back covered in black soot as they try to protect homes and bring the McDougall Creek wildfire under control.
The out-of-control McDougall Creek fire was last measured at 110 square kilometres in size, but the B.C. Wildfire Service says smoky conditions have made it difficult to get an up-to-date estimate for the fire.
A total of 9,855 properties remain on evacuation order in the area of the fire, Regional District of Central Okanagan board chair Loyal Woolridge said Monday.
Five structures were destroyed by the fire in Kelowna, while at least two or three were lost in Lake Country, a municipality north of Kelowna, the public heard Monday.
North Westside Fire Chief Ross Kotcherofski said he was not able to provide an estimate for the destruction in his jurisdiction, north of West Kelowna, but most of the structural damage has been in the Traders Cove and Lake Okanagan Resort areas. The resort was destroyed on Friday.
However, Kotcherofski said that a number of his firefighters have lost their own homes in the fire, but have remained on the front lines to help their neighbours.
Smoky skies helping wildfire fight
As the southern quarter of British Columbia is warned about the risk of particulates in the air from wildfire smoke, those battling blazes in the Central Okanagan say the smoke is helping their cause.
A special air quality statement and smoky skies bulletin is in place from Vancouver Island east to the Alberta border, as well as in the central Interior, due to smoke from hundreds of wildfires burning across the province.
An additional air quality advisory remains in place for Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley, warning of high concentrations of fine particulate matter in the air.
Wildfire firefighters work to put out hotspots from the McDougall Creek wildfire near homes in West Kelowna on Sunday. (Justine Boulin/CBC News)
While the amount of smoke in the air has created harmful conditions for people’s health, it’s also reducing the sun’s intensity, which is helping the fight against wildfires across the province.
“It is effectively another good day to fight fire, apart from the smoke in the air,” Jerrad Schroeder of the B.C. Wildfire Service said Monday morning.
In a long string of posts on X, formerly known as Twitter, the B.C. Wildfire Service noted Sunday that rain is in the forecast for late Monday night, which should allow firefighters to gain some ground.
However, the wildfire service also warned that tropical storm Hilary, which is causing flooding in southern California, will bring strong winds all the way up to B.C., with the potential for more extreme fire behaviour.
Fire crews ‘moving forward’ against blazes near Kelowna
Cooler temperatures helped firefighters make progress against wildfires in the Kelowna area after a volatile few days. Meanwhile, the blazes have put a major pause on the area’s tourism industry.
So far there is no official count of how many homes have been destroyed across B.C. since fire activity dramatically accelerated last week, but officials have acknowledged the damage is “significant.”
An unknown number of homes have also been destroyed in the Shuswap region east of Kamloops, where the Bush Creek East fire is now burning over 410 square kilometres around Adams Lake and Shuswap Lake.
There are more than 380 active wildfires burning across B.C. as of Monday morning, fuelled by wind, drought and hot weather that have left landscapes tinder dry.
Of those fires, 159 are deemed out of control while 14 are categorized as fires of note, meaning they are particularly visible or threatening to property.
B.C. Emergency Management Minister Bowinn Ma said there are now about 27,000 people in the province under an evacuation order and another 35,000 on evacuation alert.
“We hope that the darkest days are behind us, but the situation is still evolving and the dangers we face are still extreme,” she said in an update on Monday.
Premier David Eby announced Monday that he, Ma and Forests Minister Bruce Ralston all plan to travel to fire-affected areas on Tuesday to show that “we will be there when the crisis passes to rebuild,” and to gather information about what is needed.
Across B.C., more than 3,500 people are fighting wildland fires, and hundreds of municipal firefighters are helping to protect homes and other buildings, according to the B.C. Wildfire Service.
Another 100 Mexican firefighters and 200 from South Africa are expected to arrive this week.
Travel restrictions, advisories
The province is under a state of emergency, and travel to B.C.’s southern Interior has been restricted, preventing tourists from using hotels, motels, RV parks and other temporary accommodations in Kelowna and West Kelowna, Kamloops, Oliver, Osoyoos, Penticton and Vernon, so they can be utilized for evacuees.
Wildfires are also affecting several travel corridors through B.C. Highway 1 is closed in at least two spots: between Lytton and Hope in the Fraser Canyon, and between Chase and Sorrento in the Shuswap.
Other travel advisories:
Highway 97, in both directions, just south of Coldstream to Peachland.
Highway 97, in both directions, six kilometres north of Vernon to three kilometres south of Osoyoos.
Highway 5A, in both directions, between Old Kamloops Road and Roche Lake Road for 13 kilometres south of Kamloops.
DriveBC has a full listing of all road closures and travel advisories.
New evacuation orders for northern B.C.
On Monday evening, the Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako and the Takla First Nation issued a new evacuation order for the Germansen Landing and the 12 Mile area due to the Big Creek wildfire.
The district also issued an evacuation alert for the Manson Creek community because of the same wildfire.
Anyone placed under an evacuation order should leave the area immediately.
Evacuation centres have been set up throughout the province to assist anyone evacuating from a community under threat from a wildfire.
To find the centre closest to you, visit the EmergencyInfoBC website.
Evacuees are encouraged to register with Emergency Support Services online, whether or not they access services at an evacuation centre.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A linebacker at Division II West Virginia State was fatally shot during what the university said Thursday is being investigated by police as a home invasion.
The body of Jyilek Zyiare Harrington, 21, of Charlotte, North Carolina, was found inside an apartment Wednesday night in Charleston, police Lt. Tony Hazelett said in a statement.
Hazelett said several gunshots were fired during a disturbance in a hallway and inside the apartment. The statement said Harrington had multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said they had no information on a possible suspect.
West Virginia State said counselors were available to students and faculty on campus.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with Jyilek’s family as they mourn the loss of this incredible young man,” West Virginia State President Ericke S. Cage said in a letter to students and faculty.
Harrington, a senior, had eight total tackles, including a sack, in a 27-24 win at Barton College last week.
“Jyilek truly embodied what it means to be a student-athlete and was a leader not only on campus but in the community,” West Virginia State Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics Nate Burton said. “Jyilek was a young man that, during Christmas, would create a GoFundMe to help less fortunate families.”
Burton said donations to a fund established by the athletic department in Harrington’s memory will be distributed to an organization in Charlotte to continue his charity work.
West Virginia State’s home opener against Carson-Newman, originally scheduled for Thursday night, has been rescheduled to Friday, and a private vigil involving both teams was set for Thursday night. Harrington previously attended Carson-Newman, where he made seven tackles in six games last season. He began his college career at Division II Erskine College.
“Carson-Newman joins West Virginia State in mourning the untimely passing of former student-athlete Jyilek Harrington,” Carson-Newman Vice President of Athletics Matt Pope said in a statement. “The Harrington family and the Yellow Jackets’ campus community is in our prayers. News like this is sad to hear anytime, but today it feels worse with two teams who knew him coming together to play.”
DETROIT (AP) — Joe Schmidt, the Hall of Fame linebacker who helped the Detroit Lions win NFL championships in 1953 and 1957 and later coached the team, has died. He was 92.
The Lions said family informed the team Schmidt died Wednesday. A cause of death was not provided.
One of pro football’s first great middle linebackers, Schmidt played his entire NFL career with the Lions from 1953-65. An eight-time All-Pro, he was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1973 and the college football version in 2000.
“Joe likes to say that at one point in his career, he was 6-3, but he had tackled so many fullbacks that it drove his neck into his shoulders and now he is 6-foot,” said the late Lions owner William Clay Ford, Schmidt’s presenter at his Hall of Fame induction in 1973. “At any rate, he was listed at 6-feet and as I say was marginal for that position. There are, however, qualities that certainly scouts or anybody who is drafting a ballplayer cannot measure.”
Born in Pittsburgh, Schmidt played college football in his hometown at Pitt, beginning his stint there as a fullback and guard before coach Len Casanova switched him to linebacker.
“Pitt provided me with the opportunity to do what I’ve wanted to do, and further myself through my athletic abilities,” Schmidt said. “Everything I have stemmed from that opportunity.”
Schmidt dealt with injuries throughout his college career and was drafted by the Lions in the seventh round in 1953. As defenses evolved in that era, Schmidt’s speed, savvy and tackling ability made him a valuable part of some of the franchise’s greatest teams.
Schmidt was elected to the Pro Bowl 10 straight years from 1955-64, and after his arrival, the Lions won the last two of their three NFL titles in the 1950s.
In a 1957 playoff game at San Francisco, the Lions trailed 27-7 in the third quarter before rallying to win 31-27. That was the NFL’s largest comeback in postseason history until Buffalo rallied from a 32-point deficit to beat Houston in 1993.
“We just decided to go after them, blitz them almost every down,” Schmidt recalled. “We had nothing to lose. When you’re up against it, you let both barrels fly.”
Schmidt became an assistant coach after wrapping up his career as a player. He was Detroit’s head coach from 1967-72, going 43-35-7.
Schmidt was part of the NFL’s All-Time Team revealed in 2019 to celebrate the league’s centennial season. Of course, he’d gone into the Hall of Fame 46 years earlier.
Not bad for an undersized seventh-round draft pick.
“It was a dream of mine to play football,” Schmidt told the Detroit Free Press in 2017. “I had so many people tell me that I was too small. That I couldn’t play. I had so many negative people say negative things about me … that it makes you feel good inside. I said, ‘OK, I’ll prove it to you.’”
VICTORIA – British Columbia‘s Environment Assessment Office has fined Coastal GasLink Pipeline Ltd. $590,000 for “deficiencies” in the construction of its pipeline crossing the province.
The office says in a statement that 10 administrative penalties have been levied against the company for non-compliance with requirements of its environmental assessment certificate.
It says the fines come after problems with erosion and sediment control measures were identified by enforcement officers along the pipeline route across northern B.C. in April and May 2023.
The office says that the latest financial penalties reflect its escalation of enforcement due to repeated non-compliance of its requirements.
Four previous penalties have been issued for failing to control erosion and sediment valued at almost $800,000, while a fifth fine of $6,000 was handed out for providing false or misleading information.
The office says it prioritized its inspections along the 670-kilometre route by air and ground as a result of the continued concerns, leading to 59 warnings and 13 stop-work orders along the pipeline that has now been completed.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
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