Our thoughts go out to those affected by the wildfires in British Columbia and Northwest Territories. Our claims service is available 24-hours a day at 1-888-437-1100 or by email at claims@wmbeck.com. Please stay safe.
CENTRAL OKANAGAN EMERGENCY OPERATIONS UPDATE:
Stay up to date:
Visit the BC Wildfire Service website for McDougall Creek Wildfire incident information.
Residents are encouraged to visit cordermergency.ca and subscribe to receive e-updates.
For municipal and local government information such as garbage collection and transfer station hours, water quality updates, park and local road closures, visit:
Update September 21, 2023
Central Okanagan Emergency Operations in consultation with the BC Wildfire Service, West Kelowna Fire Rescue and Regional District of Central Okanagan Fire Services, is rescinding orders and alerts for the McDougall Creek wildfire in the following areas:
- All remaining Evacuation Orders issued for the Regional District of Central Okanagan and City of West Kelowna are rescinded in full, except for the following property in the City of West Kelowna:
- Property immediately surrounding 550 Westside Road
- All properties previously on alert have been rescinded except for the following properties:
- Those accessed from Bear Creek Road:
- Bear Creek Road
- Petterson Road
- Dougmac Road
- Rose Valley Road
- All properties addressed between 1111 Westside Road S and 539 Westside Road S
- Those accessed from Bear Creek Road:
To view the map of areas remaining under evacuation order and alert, please visit cordemergency.ca.
Residents on Evacuation Alert are reminded to be prepared to leave at a moment’s notice and be away from home for an extended period.
Thanks to BC Wildfire Service and local fire crews, the McDougall Creek wildfire is now held. Crews continue to work on mop up activities, conduct patrols and extinguish hotspots. Crews will also continue the demobilization of non-essential equipment.
Resiliency Centre Support
Residents affected by the McDougall Creek wildfire from partial to complete loss of properties are able to access support through the Resiliency Centre. Case workers at the Resiliency Centre are trained to help understand the needs of our community members affected and help provide individualized supports. Contact the Resiliency Centre at:
- Address: 403 – 3031 Louie Drive, Governor’s Landing, Westbank First Nation
- Hours: 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. until further notice
- Call 250-469-6327 or email centre@rdco.com
Residents returning home can find important checklists, contact numbers and frequently asked questions in the Returning Home Guide.
When returning to wildfire-affected areas, residents are asked to be cautious as conditions have changed to varying degrees. Know your hazards after a wildfire, visit the Province of B.C.’s website.
For the safety of the public, please respect barricades and closures in wildfire-affected outdoor spaces and privacy of others on neighbouring properties and refrain from trespassing.
Update: August 24, 2023:
All City of Kelowna properties previously under Evacuation Order have been downgraded to Alert status. Current Evacuation Orders and Alerts for Lake Country and West Kelowna, Westbank First Nations and RDCO remain in place, including residents on Bancroft Road in RDCO Electoral Area West, who were mistakenly included in the previous release. The Emergency Operations Centre has a comprehensive guide for safely returning home with information about property and food safety, including fridges and freezers, pets, insurance, mental health support and more. This guide is included in a link below in the August 23, 2023 update.
Residents on evacuation alert must be prepared to leave their properties at a moment’s notice and be away from home for an extended period. View the updated order and alert areas on CORD Emergency.
Update: August 23, 2023 –
As the Clifton McKinley Fire is now held, the Emergency Operations Centre is working hard to get City of Kelowna residents home as soon as possible. Crews are working on a process today to get neighbourhoods in the City safe for residents’ return. A phased approach is underway to prepare neighbourhoods and residents must not return home until CORD Emergency sends out public notification that their area is cleared. This phased approach must be followed to avoid interference with the important work crews are doing right now to prepare neighbourhoods for the return home, including removal of hazard trees in nearby forested areas.
The public should be aware that, for their protection, closures of parks and natural areas will continue including Stephens Coyote Ridge Regional Park and the North Glenmore Dog Park. For more information on Stephens Coyote Ridge Regional Park, go to www.rdco.com. Residents are asked to respect signs, locked gates and barricades and stay out of these parks and natural areas in the wildfire affected areas for their safety. Crews will be doing hazard assessments and working in those areas to get them safe for eventually re-entry in the weeks ahead.
If residents returning home notice hot spots within their areas, they can call the Kelowna Fire Department non-emergency line at 250-469-8577.
As Evacuation Orders are downgraded and Evacuation Orders are removed, residents are reminded that they may also encounter various hazards on their private properties from the wildfire.
The Emergency Operations Centre provides a comprehensive guide for returning home with a variety of resources about property and food safety, pets, insurance, mental health supports and more. Go to:
RDCO Returning Home Information
Cord Emergency Resources
Returning Home after a Fire
The Emergency Operations Centre has launched an online search tool for City of West Kelowna, Westbank First Nation and Central Okanagan West Electoral Area properties that have experienced partial to full structure loss resulting from the McDougall Creek Wildfire. Property owners who have been placed on Evacuation Order can search to see if their property has incurred losses by visiting www.cordemergency.ca/propertyinfo. If your property has not been placed on Evacuation Order, your address will not show. The Emergency Operation Centre asks the general public to be respectful of this process – if you are not on evacuation order do not use the search tool.
The search tool follows the work of Canada Task Force 1 Team, which completed assessments to identify properties that incurred losses in the wildfires. This was the first step in aiding in the public notification process. Further hazard assessments must now be completed at each property, to determine the number and types of structures lost on each property. That process is completed in the City of Kelowna and District of Lake Country. The process will take longer but remains a priority in the communities of West Kelowna, Westbank First Nation and the Regional District of the Central Okanagan West Electoral Area where losses have been greater.
Residents currently on evacuation order are strongly encouraged to register with Emergency Support Services at https://ess.gov.bc.ca to ensure contact information for any affected property owners is up to date.
SHUSWAP EMERGENCY PROGRAM UPDATE
YouTube Video update from August 22nd, 2023: August 22nd, 2023 Shuswap Video Update
For those in our communities directly impacted by the wildfires and in need immediate emergency response support, here are some local resources:
1. The Central Okanagan Emergency Center:
Evacuee Registration and Assistance (ERA) tool – Register at https://ess.gov.bc.ca
The Central Okanagan Emergency Operations Centre is supporting evacuees who need assistance through Emergency Support Services.
To help make the Emergency Support Services registration process easier at Royal Lepage Place, a new queue system has been created.
- Once you have registered online at https://ess.gov.bc.ca, if you need more services you must attend a reception center. This queue service is currently only open at Royal LePage Place in West Kelowna.
- The registration desk will give you a coloured card with your queue number. Each colour holds up to 100 numbers.
- You can check where you are in the queue by visiting “ESS Queue” link on the front page at cordemergency.ca
- On the webpage, you will see the colour the registration desk is currently serving and the upcoming colour block.
- This will help to give you an idea when you need to return to the registration area to sit down with an ESS volunteer who can help you.
Evacuees are encouraged to connect with family and friends for temporary accommodation. Those who have a place to stay should still register at https://ess.gov.bc.ca, and indicate if additional supports outside of lodging are needed.
After registering online, evacuees who need lodging or others supports can attend the reception center nearest them to speak with an ESS volunteer. The three reception centers are:
- Royal LePage Place at 2760 Cameron Road in West Kelowna
- Kal Tire Place at 3445 43 Avenue in Vernon
- Princess Margaret Secondary School, 120 Green Ave West, in Penticton
All reception centers are open 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. Please note, the queue is currently only available at the Royal LePage Place reception center in West Kelowna.
The reception centers are experiencing significant volumes of people registering and volunteers are working to process applications for support as quickly as possible. ESS teams will get to everyone’s applications and patience is appreciated. Currently, the priority is for those needing lodging and accommodation. People who have other supports with family and friends are not required to visit a reception center.
Evacuees who do require lodging should register online and visit a reception center. A variety of accommodations will be offered, whether hotel/motel, group lodging or a dormitory, depending on household size, needs and available lodging types.
Note: If you have home or tenant insurance, you may already have coverage for accommodations and supports under your insurance policy. If your insurance policy information isn’t readily available, please call your local broker or the WMB team at 1-888-437-1100 to track down your policy information.
2. CORD Emergency: Residents are asked to stay up to date on the ever-evolving situation in the region through the CORD emergency site and also subscribe to receive e-updates.
Go online to cordermegency.ca. View the up-to-date evacuation order and alert areas on cordemergency.ca/map.
3. EmergencyMapBC: You can stay informed at the following link EmergencyMapBC (arcgis.com)
4. Shuswap Emergency Program:
The Shuswap Emergency Program is a regional organization that works to ensure residents are prepared, safe and informed in cases of floods, wildfire, extreme weather and more. It serves the citizens of the City of Salmon Arm, District of Sicamous and CSRD Electoral Areas C, D, E, F and G. Emergency Information for Revelstoke and Electoral Area B and the Town of Golden and Electoral Area A is managed directly by those communities.
Evacuation Status Dashboard:
Want to see if your property is included in any Evacuation Order or Alert Areas? Launch the Shuswap Emergency Dashboard for mapped information about evacuation orders, alerts, and the locations of wildfire or other emergency incidents.
To view all of the active emergencies in this area, click here: Shuswap Active Emergencies
Finally, for those that are able and looking to support for those impacted by the fires, we will be sharing a full list of places to donate on our social platforms (LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook).
Thank you to the incredible first responders and people in the community that are stepping up to help those impacted by the wildfires.
This page will be updated as the situation changes.
