‘Fighting fires in the backyards of homes’: Fire chief on Mount Law fire in West Kelowna

About 1,000 people have been displaced due to the Mount Law wildfire that erupted Sunday afternoon north of the Okanagan connector and just two kilometres from West Kelowna.

Another 1,900 properties remain on an alert.

The fire, which is currently burning within city limits, is in close proximity to homes in the Glenrosa area.

“We are actively fighting fires in the backyards of homes on a number of streets in upper Glenrosa and will continue to do that today,” said Jason Brolund, West Kelowna fire chief.

While he could not say an exact number, Brolund did confirm there was some structural damage overnight.

“At this point, we do believe it to be a small number of structures,” Brolund said at a late morning virtual news conference.

Brolund said heavy embers caused a great deal of concern Sunday night with the fire spotting ahead of itself.

1:14Wildfire smoke darkens skies in B.C.

“That is certainly what drove some of the decisions that were made around the evacuation order areas for example,” he said. “Making sure people were out of the way, so that we could do our work in those neighbourhoods.”

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At the peak of the firefight Sunday, there were 25 trucks from eight local fire departments on scene along with 80 structural firefighters.

“We have eight trucks today from six local fire departments comprising of 25 structural firefighters, who are on the ground and working closely with the B.C. Wildfire Service.

The B.C. Wildfire Service has assigned three helicopters and multiple pieces of heavy equipment to the fire.

There is also support from six water skimmers and four retardant air tankers, whose actions will be highly visible to West Kelowna, Kelowna and Peachland throughout the day.

The fire is suspected to be human-caused and is being investigated.

Visit the Central Okanagan Emergency Operations website for a list of addresses on evacuation order and alert.

The Emergency Support Services reception centre for evacuated residents due to the Mount Law wildfire is in the gymnasium at Mount Boucherie Secondary at 2751 Cameron Rd. in West Kelowna.

There is also a reception centre at the Salvation Army church at 1480 Sutherland Ave. in Kelowna.

1:16Video captures B.C. wildfire burning dangerously close to Coquihalla Highway