White Rock Lake Fire notification to property owners to commence tomorrow

News Release no. 26 Central Okanagan, B.C. – Crews were able to conduct an early assessment of properties in the Ewings Landing and Killiney areas within the Regional District of the Central Okanagan on the west side of Okanagan Lake on Monday afternoon. As a result it is now estimated that approximately 70 properties have been significantly damaged.

“It is taking us longer than anticipated to confirm properties and owner contact information for the impacted area. Given the gravity of this news for home owners we are being diligent in confirming these identities,” says Brian Reardon, Director, Central Okanagan Emergency Operations. “We sympathize with and understand that residents are anxiously awaiting for updates about the status of their property.

“EOC officials are working tirelessly to provide information to property owners as soon as possible. We anticipate to start our calls tomorrow morning.”

The fire remains active and out of control and there are areas that assessment crews were not able to access for their safety. It is possible once it is safe to conduct further assessments that additional properties could have sustained significant damage.

No further information about damages to properties will be provided at this time. Property owners will be contacted directly.

Property owners in the Ewings Landing and Killiney area who have not yet registered with ESS, including owners who do not reside at the property, are encouraged to do so through the website: https://ess.gov.bc.ca/. This is one way that officals are able to confirm properties and their owners for contact.

The evacuation Orders and Alerts for the White Rock Lake Fire remain unchanged at this time. Residents will not be able to access their property and the area until it is deemed safe to do so.

A detailed map showing the present status of Orders and Alerts affecting properties within the RDCO is at cordemergency.ca/map.

For official situation updates and preparedness information subscribe and follow cordemergency.ca, facebook.com/cordemergency or twitter.com/CO_emerg or call the information line at 250-469-8490.