Evacuation Alert remains for Brenda Creek wildfire News Release No. 12

News Release No. 12 Central Okanagan, B.C. – The Brenda Creek wildfire  Evacuation Alert continues within a section of the Regional District of Central Okanagan Central Okanagan West Electoral Area affected by the fire, south of Highway 97-C and northwest of Peachland.  A map showing the details of the Alert area is online at www.cordemergency.ca/map

Portions of the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen and Thompson Nicola Regional District are also affected and anyone in those regional districts should check with their emergency program for the latest information.  This area is also under a BC Wildfire Area Restriction Order.

The Central Okanagan Emergency Operations Centre continues monitoring the wildfire and supporting the BC Wildfire Service in its efforts on the fire which is now estimated at 662 hectares in size in mostly rural, Crown land. 

Firefighters and equipment from Kelowna, West Kelowna, Peachland and North Westside departments are supporting BC Wildfire with patrols along the BC Hydro transmission corridor through the fire area.  BC Wildfire has set up a specialized mass water sprinkler delivery system along the transmission corridor to protect poles within the fire perimeter.

BC Hydro continues to actively monitoring its transmission line and infrastructure through the Brenda Creek wildfire area. Its daily patrols confirm no damage and the system is operating reliably.

BC Hydro continues to work with BC Wildfire, structural firefighters and local fire crews to protect the transmission line and corridor. The sprinkler protection system is in place and fire retardant is being applied on poles in front of advancing fire lines whenever possible and safe to do so. This continues to be very effective in protecting this critical infrastructure.

Customers are encouraged to be prepared for any potential electricity outage by visiting https://www.bchydro.com/safety-outages.html.

The Central Okanagan Emergency program reminds residents that they should know the risks of potential emergencies, make a plan and prepare grab and go kits in the case they are required to leave their homes for at least 72 hours.

The program website cordemergency.ca/beprepared is a centralized location for regional public emergency and preparedness information, including links to useful provincial and federal emergency resources such as PreparedBC, BC Wildfire Services, Emergency Management BC and Air Quality readings.

Sign-up there for e-updates to receive timely updates directly to your inbox about emergency incidents. The Central Okanagan Emergency Operation Centre also provides information on Facebook at facebook.com/CORDEmergency and Twitter at twitter.com/CO_Emerg.