Residents on Penticton Indian Band land and those living at Skaha Hills spent a very tense night as the Skaha Creek fire crested the hill and flames climbed down the mountain.
But there were no evacuation orders or alerts issued.
At 10:30 p.m., the Penticton Indian Band Emergency Operations Centre posted an update on their Facebook page to update everyone that no homes were in immediate danger.
“We are seeing spot fires that have come over the hill and we acknowledge this is alarming. Fire crews will not engage in suppression efforts in areas where it’s not safe to do so. People may see intense flare-ups, however crews will allow the fire to burn to a safe location, so we all stay safe,” the Facebook post said.
Many people said the fire looked like a volcano erupting.
“Please know that the weather conditions we have are significantly different from the conditions our region faced a few weeks ago. Our low overnight temperatures and higher humidity will slow growth and activity on the fire. This allows teams to plan and prepare suppression efforts, beginning early the next morning (Monday),” the PIB EOC said.
No evacuation alerts or orders have been issued.
The city of Penticton is working with the PIB EOC as this fire is in PIB’s lands.
The fire blew up in size in the evening hours of Sunday night, quickly growing from 25 hectares to 100 hectares as of 9:30 p.m. last night.
