'A great feeling': Okanagan wildfire battle has turned a corner, fire chiefs say
CTV
Fire chiefs say the fight against devastating wildfires that have been rampaging around Lake Okanagan, B.C., has turned a corner after days of destruction.
Fire chiefs say the fight against devastating wildfires that have been rampaging around Lake Okanagan, B.C., has turned a corner after days of destruction.
West Kelowna fire chief Jason Brolund said "things are finally looking better," with an army of 500 firefighters engaged in a battle that is now in a new phase.
He told a news briefing Sunday that no more homes in West Kelowna had been destroyed by the McDougall Creek wildfire in the past 24 hours and it was possible to begin to "talk about recovery."
Kelowna fire chief Travis Whiting told the briefing he was also "very excited" about the advances being made, with his crews optimistic and in good spirits.
He said there had been decreased fire activity, compared to the extreme behaviour of fires in recent days as they tore through neighbourhoods and destroyed homes in both West Kelowna and Kelowna, on either side of the lake.
The positive developments in the Central Okanagan come amid a desperate battle against hundreds of fires across the province, with 30,000 people under evacuation orders and a provincial state of emergency in effect.
"It's a day when we can take a deep breath" and focus on strategy, said Whiting.
