The Mount Christie wildfire sparked about 2 p.m., Tuesday, Aug. 18 and by 10:30 p.m. the blaze had grown to 1,000 hectares in size.
Boaters, swimmers, tourists and residents watched from their homes and beaches as the plume of smoke began to rise above the Heritage Hills neighbourhood, about six kilometres away from Okanagan Falls.
BC Wildfire worked on the blaze overnight with 21 personnel on scene along with local fire departments and structure protection crews.
Scary times for my family on #SkahaLake. Praying they get the #ChristieMountainFire under control. Keep up the great work firefighters â¤ï¸ #penticton #okanaganfire #OkanaganFalls video taken in front of family property in Skaha Estates, Eastside pic.twitter.com/brp9qWf84X
— Shannon D (@sdvancity) August 19, 2020
The Regional District of the Okanagan Similkameen was forced to evacuate 319 homes in the Heritage Hills area near McLean Creek Road.
Later in the night, 3,669 properties located within the southeast portion of Penticton were placed on an evacuation alert.
The #BCWildfire Service is responding to the Christie Mountain wildfire (K51287) located approximately 6 km N of Okanagan Falls on the east side of Skaha lake. It is estimated at ten hectares in size. BCWS personnel are on site and are being supported by air tankers (1/4). pic.twitter.com/ly2nwKc0ck
— BC Wildfire Service (@BCGovFireInfo) August 19, 2020
Black Press Media is collecting your photos and video of the Mount Christie wildfire to share with readers.
Send us your photos to: newstips@pentictonwesternnews.com
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