Vancouver Island fire crews help battle flames in Kelowna
As flames ravage the Kelowna area, forcing thousands to flee and destroying dozens of homes and counting, fire crews from Vancouver Island are rushing to help.
Four municipal firefighters from Saanich, as well as crews from Lake Cowichan and Comox, have headed to the Interior. The team from Saanich arrived at the fires on Friday afternoon.
Saanich’s Assistant Deputy Chief Craig Ford said with fire conditions so extremely dangerous here on Vancouver Island, it’s a juggling act with resources, but his team felt compelled to help.
“Mother nature has a way of actually making sure that we all have to support each other," Ford said from Saanich's fire hall number one on Friday.
"That could be earthquakes, it could be floods, it could be wildfire in this situation."
The devastation wrought by the terrifying flames in the Okanagan has been unlike anything ever seen on Vancouver Island. Still, after unprecedented droughts his summer, Ford says it's not off the table here.
“In my career of 20 years, this is probably the worst case we've had in terms of wildfire threat on Vancouver Island,” Ford said. “We have large tracts of land that are not immune to what's happening in the Okanagan region and elsewhere in the province.”
Flames erupted on Quadra Island Thursday and continue to burn in Strathcona Park, and on Friday morning Saanich fire crews responded to a suspicious grassfire in Swan Lake near Saanich’s fire hall.
Despite it burning on bogland, the fire spread rapidly, and without a quick response could have spread to homes, said Ford.
“Take this situation and put it into one of our parks – where we've got some waterless areas and a longer response time – and we'd have a major issue on our hands.”
The smoke from the Kelowna-area fires is expected to blanket Vancouver Island on Saturday. Yimei Li, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, says the air quality index is expected to rise from low to a moderate risk on Saturday.
"With the incoming smoke for the Interior fires, air quality is expected to worsen,” said Li.
Winds should clear that smoke starting Monday. However, there's little rain in the forecast for weeks, meaning an already unprecedented fire season that may hammer all parts of the province is expected to stretch into the fall.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Deadly six-vehicle crash on Highway 400 sparked by road rage incident
One person was killed in a six-vehicle crash on Highway 400 in Innisfil Friday evening.
Opinion I just don't get Taylor Swift
It's one thing to say you like Taylor Swift and her music, but don't blame CNN's AJ Willingham's when she says she just 'doesn't get' the global phenomenon.
First court appearance for boy and girl charged in death of Halifax 16-year-old
A girl and a boy, both 14 years old, made their first appearance today in a Halifax courtroom, where they each face a second-degree murder charge in the stabbing death of a 16-year-old high school student.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Haida elder suing Catholic Church and priest, hopes for 'healing and reconciliation'
The lawyer for a residential school survivor leading a proposed class-action defamation lawsuit against the Catholic Church over residential schools says the court action is a last resort.
Yemen's Houthi rebels claim downing U.S. Reaper drone, release footage showing wreckage of aircraft
Yemen's Houthi rebels on Saturday claimed shooting down another of the U.S. military's MQ-9 Reaper drones, airing footage of parts that corresponded to known pieces of the unmanned aircraft.
Britney Spears settles long-running legal dispute with estranged father, finally bringing ultimate end to conservatorship
Britney Spears has reached a settlement with her estranged father more than two years after the court-ordered termination of a conservatorship that had given him control of her life, their attorneys said.
Cisco reveals security breach, warns of state-sponsored spy campaign
State-sponsored actors targeted security devices used by governments around the world, according to technology firm Cisco Systems, which said the network devices are coveted intrusion points by spies.