PEACHLAND, B.C. — Residents evacuated from their homes in the town of Peachland in B.C.'s southern Interior are now allowed to return home, as crews have brought a wildfire in the area under control.
The Central Okanagan Emergency Operations Centre says residents of Maranatha Drive were sheltering at the local community centre after being evacuated by RCMP earlier Saturday, while an evacuation alert was in effect for properties on eight neighbouring streets.
That alert has now ended.
The emergency centre says in a statement on Saturday that at least one property was destroyed by the fire that at one point was estimated to be just under one hectare in size.
Sam Ryan, a fire information officer with the B.C. Wildfire Service, says the fire began in a structure and spread to wild land, where 11 personnel were working alongside the local fire department.
Fire danger ratings are listed moderate to high across much of B.C., with a few pockets where the wildfire service says the danger is extreme.
The service lists one 350-hectare "fire of note," classified as burning out of control south of Lytton, though Ryan says there's been no new growth and crews have made good progress despite the heat wave that's descended on the province.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 26, 2021.
The Canadian Press
