Wind subsides, but danger remains from wildfire near Penticton, B.C., officials say

Evacuation orders remain in effect Evacuation orders and alerts remained in effect near the Christie Mountain wildfire Saturday, even as the blaze failed to grow.

Vancouver — Marguerite Day spent Friday watching a parade of emergency vehicles outside her home in Penticton, B.C., as crews prepared for the possibility that strong winds would send a threatening wildfire into the city.

"We were expecting the worst, obviously," Day told CTV News Vancouver.

But the worst didn't happen. Though winds did pick up, they didn't push the Christie Mountain wildfire north as much as expected.

Indeed, the latest estimate from the BC Wildfire Service puts the fire's size at around 2,035 hectares, just 35 hectares bigger than it was at the start of the day Friday.

Fire officials said it has been difficult to get an accurate measurement of the fire's size because of the difficult terrain on which it's burning, but they said there has been "minimal fire activity" in the last 24 hours.

On top of that, the wildfire service estimates about a millimetre of rain fell on the blaze Friday.

“We were very fortunate yesterday with the wind event," said Penticton Fire Department chief Larry Watkinson at a news conference Saturday. "Although it was quite vigorous above Penticton and on the hillsides, it was soft on the fire. We didn’t see a lot of expansion.”

In fact, fire officials say the wind has now changed direction, pushing the blaze away from the homes it was threatening, but also toward some new fuel sources.

“It’s going to challenge our lines in areas we weren’t initially seeing," said Dan Taudin-Chabot, of the BC Wildfire Service. "But it’s also in a direction that’s favourable as far as (the) community.”

That doesn't mean the danger is over, however. Evacuation orders are still in effect for 319 properties in the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen outside Penticton's city limits. Thousands more properties, including Day's, remain on evacuation alert.

Taudin-Chabot said he understands it's difficult for the people under evacuation order to be unable to return home, but said it's important to get the timing right on lifting such an order.

"We haven't lifted the order because we haven't felt 100 per cent comfortable yet, and when we do, we will," he said. "We don't want to be premature on this."

Penticton's Mayor John Vassilaki offered a similar message Saturday.

“While the sky is blue here today in Penticton, the risk remains," he said. "Please stay safe and please stay vigilant with your planning and preparations.”

That's exactly what Day and her husband are doing.

"We'll just stay at the ready," she said. "The bins are still there, the valuables are still packed and ready to go."

The BC Wildfire Service still has 200 firefighters and 16 helicopters battling the blaze, alongside dozens more crews from local fire departments from around the region who are working to ensure structures are protected if the fire advances again.

"They've still got a big fire on their hands that hasn't diminished," Day said. "It's not over until it's over, right?"

With files from CTV News Vancouver’s Allison Hurst