Wildfires consuming West Kelowna in British Columbia
Fongolio
Posts: 3,516
A town about 30 miles to the south of me is being burned by wildfires. It's called West Kelowna (formerly Westbank) very near Kelowna British Columbia. It's about 250 miles northeast of Vancouver.
The area I live in is called the Okanagan Valley in the British Columbia interior. It gets very hot here in the summer and has had daytime temperatures exceeding 32 celcius (90 fahrenheit) for about a week now. Yesterday and today it was in excess of 35 degrees celcius with high winds. A very small brush fire at about 3:00 pm today was accelerated into a massive blaze that has already consumed several homes and many more are expected to go before this fire is brought under control
Some of you may have heard about the 285 homes lost to a similar fire in Kelowna in 2003. These temperatures and conditions are very similar to where in California similar wildfires happen. Extremely dry and hot with wooded areas interfacing with subdivisions.
A massive evacuation has been ordered affecting several thousand people. In this one small area as many as 20,000 people could be affected. The central part of the town itself is being threatened by this fire. Water bombers helicopters and dozens of ground people are working to bring it under control but the fires are gaining and sustained high winds are making very difficult. I hope and pray for the safety of all people in this area.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20090718/BC_west_kelowna_fire_090718/20090718/?hub=BritishColumbiaHome
The area I live in is called the Okanagan Valley in the British Columbia interior. It gets very hot here in the summer and has had daytime temperatures exceeding 32 celcius (90 fahrenheit) for about a week now. Yesterday and today it was in excess of 35 degrees celcius with high winds. A very small brush fire at about 3:00 pm today was accelerated into a massive blaze that has already consumed several homes and many more are expected to go before this fire is brought under control
Some of you may have heard about the 285 homes lost to a similar fire in Kelowna in 2003. These temperatures and conditions are very similar to where in California similar wildfires happen. Extremely dry and hot with wooded areas interfacing with subdivisions.
A massive evacuation has been ordered affecting several thousand people. In this one small area as many as 20,000 people could be affected. The central part of the town itself is being threatened by this fire. Water bombers helicopters and dozens of ground people are working to bring it under control but the fires are gaining and sustained high winds are making very difficult. I hope and pray for the safety of all people in this area.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20090718/BC_west_kelowna_fire_090718/20090718/?hub=BritishColumbiaHome
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Carver TFM-55
NAD 1130 Pre-amp
Rega Planar 3 TT/Shelter 501 MkII
The Clamp
Revox A77 Mk IV Dolby reel to reel
Thorens TD160/Mission 774 arm/Stanton 881S Shibata
Nakamichi CR7 Cassette Deck
Rotel RCD-855 with modified tube output stage
Cambridge Audio DACmagic Plus
ADC Soundshaper 3 EQ
Ben's IC's
Nitty Gritty 1.5FI RCM
Post edited by Fongolio on
Comments
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this news is 7 hours old....
Two wildfires near a western Canadian city have forced the evacuation of around 17,000 people, officials say. -
this headline is 3 hours old
any current updates ?
Thousands flee wildfires in western Canada
Monday, 20 July 2009
Firefighters in western Canada are struggling to contain two wildfires which have forced thousands of people to flee their homes. -
My aunt and uncle run/manage a ski hill around that area. But they are not in the town right now as they are on a motorbike tour of Canada. Hope their place is ok.
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Hope everyone is safe. Have no indication of smoke up here in Yellowknife yet.Michael
In the beginning, all knowledge was new!
NORTH of 60° -
More than half of West Kelowna fire evacuees will get to return home Tuesday morning.
Six thousand residents from north of Glenrosa Road and north of Powers Creek will be allowed back into their home.