My sister lives in Kelowna and the pictures and videos she sent me made it look like the actual apocalypse was happening there.
That’s because it is an apocalypse. Just not the fast moving ones from movies and religions.
The clips I’ve seen on other social media platforms has been horrifying to watch. I can only imagine what it must be like to be there right now - I hope your sister is safe 🙏
In a cruel twist of irony, it marks the 20 year anniversary of the 2003 Okanagan Park fire. Most Kelowna residents would have experienced that and are probably retraumatized.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
If the power or data on your device is low, you can get wildfire updates on CBC Lite, our low-bandwidth, text-only website.
As West Kelowna Fire Chief, Brolund was out on the front lines, co-ordinating firefighters as they tried to fight the McDougall Creek wildfire ripping through parts of the city.
Wildfires are known for turning day into night with their heavy smoke, but in West Kelowna, the opposite happened as the fire illuminated the midnight sky.
The extreme conditions in the area are not expected to let up over the next 36 hours, and fires across the province may see significant growth, provincial officials say.
Brolund spoke to CBC’s Daybreak South just after 6 a.m. on Friday, and around 10 a.m. he held a televised press conference.
Crews were able to protect critical buildings and infrastructure — a school, a new water treatment plant, the fire hall — but an unknown number of homes burned down.
The original article contains 726 words, the summary contains 155 words. Saved 79%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
It’s scary as hell. It’s way too early for any sort of reflection or research, but things are probably going to have to start changing in BC. This summer is going to force us to realize this, me be thinking.
But lots of time for all that down the road. Let’s hope, and help our neighbors through the storm first. I hope everyone gets out, and is safe. The tourism ban put into place this aft is well needed, and hopefully will help. It’s going to have one hell of an economic impact, but again lots of time down the road to evaluate and judge that.
Be safe Okanagians, we care, we are heartbroken, and will be ready to help when it’s appropriate.
