Evacuations ordered near Penticton as wildfire damages 2 homes

Rain a welcome sight in B.C.'s Interior The rain is bringing some relief for firefighters in the Interior, but will it be enough to quell dozens of ongoing wildfires?

Crews have contained a small wildfire just outside Penticton that damaged two homes and forced a number of evacuations Thursday morning.

The blaze broke out around 9:30 a.m. in West Bench, forcing an unconfirmed number of residents in the Westwood Drive area to flee their homes.

The flames reached a couple properties, but it appears crews were able to mitigate the damage.

"Two homes have been impacted but the damage has been limited to the roof," said Mark Parker, communications officer for the City of Penticton.

Evacuees should be allowed to return home Thursday, according to the city, and firefighters will continue to monitor the situation overnight.

The blaze only spread to about half a hectare, thanks to local and reginal firefighters working with help from a provincial helicopter.

"We were able to catch it at a relatively small size," said Kevin Skrepnek, chief fire information officer with the B.C. Wildfire Service. "Certainly though smoke was blowing through Penticton and Highway 97."

The cause of the fire is still under investigation. It was sparked on a day that saw cool, wet weather in many areas of the province, which Skrepnek said should serve as a stark reminder that people in the southern areas of B.C. need to remain vigilant.

"Even though we are having a generally good day weather-wise that there is still the potential for fires to ignite," he said.

Some areas saw heavy showers, with forecasts of up to 10 mm of rain falling an hour. But officials described the weather as a "momentary reprieve" in the overall wildfire fight; hot and dry conditions are expected to return on Friday.

Emergency Management B.C. estimates up to 44,000 evacuees remain displaced by fires, and about 38,000 have registered with the Canadian Red Cross.

As of Thursday afternoon, there were 152 wildfires burning across the province, 12 of which were sparked on Wednesday. Skrepnek said the total has remained fairly static this week, but there are still 15 fires "posing real threat to communities."

Since April 1, there have been 688 wildfires that have scorched an estimated 405,000 hectares of B.C. The 10-year average is 154,000 hectares over an entire wildfire season.