Philpott Road Fire News Release #5

No change is expected overnight for the Philpott Road wildfire Evacuation Order.  An estimated 1,100 people are out of their homes in a large section of Joe Rich, just east of Kelowna in the Central Okanagan East Electoral Area.   The status of the Evacuation Order will be reviewed tomorrow morning.  Residents can see which properties are still under Evacuation Order at www.cordemergency.ca.

The Emergency Support Services reception centre set up at the Willow Park Church, 439 Highway 33 West in Kelowna will close at 10:00 pm.  Volunteers will be on hand tomorrow morning at 10 to help any people affected by the Evacuation Order.

At this point, there is no report of any structures being impacted by the wildfire, estimated by the BC Wildfire Service as 380-hectares in size.   As this is still an active fire, a more detailed assessment of damage will be made in the days ahead.

Overnight structural firefighters from five Central Okanagan departments and ten other fire departments across the Okanagan and interior will monitor the fire and put out any hotspots.  They’re being supported on the ground by BC Wildfire Service firefighters.

Highway 33 will remain closed overnight from the Gallaghers Road intersection on the City of Kelowna to Big White Road.  A detour route is available for non-commercial passenger vehicles for those who must travel via McCulloch Road.  For the latest status on the highway closure and detour please check www.drivebc.ca.

The next planned update from the Emergency Operations Centre will be after 8:00 am tomorrow.

Monitor cordemergency.ca, facebook.com/CORDEmergency or twitter.com/CO_Emerg for the latest information.