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.
"And that's a great feeling for all of us to have," he said."In saying that, make no mistake, there will be difficult days ahead." B.C.'s fire fight continued on multiple fronts Sunday, but no new evacuation orders were added overnight to those already in place, covering thousands of properties across the province.
About 36,000 people are subject to evacuation alerts across B.C., warned to be ready to leave their homes at a moment's notice, the government said. Volunteers mixed with evacuees at the facility on Saturday afternoon, filling plates from tables of food. "If there are commercial kitchens that are looking to do food, they can come to Prospera and meet with a staff member, get on a schedule that we're creating as we're finding all the foods coming at once and we don't want to waste anything."
District officials confirmed Saturday there were structural losses due to the explosive growth of the fire, which the BC Wildfire services said raced more than 20 kilometres in about half a day.Firefighting officials have said cooler and calmer conditions Saturday helped crews battle the fires in the southern Interior, but they are expecting difficult days ahead as conditions warm up again Sunday.
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