Investigators believe an illegal campfire sparked the wildfire that tore through West Kelowna’s Kalamoir Regional Park earlier this week, forcing hundreds of residents from their homes and scorching more than nine hectares of land.
“RCMP come up to me and he said, ‘You have one minute sir to leave and the fire is 500 yards from your front door,’” said area resident Bert Legault. “People panicked.”
The wildfire, which quickly grew to more than nine hectares due to strong winds, erupted Tuesday on the south side of the roughly 30-hectare park.
While the wildfire has now been extinguished, officials say significant hazards remain throughout the park, which remains closed to the public.
“The fire was pretty unexpected,” said Wayne Darlington, manager of parks capital planning and asset management with the Regional District of Central Okanagan (RDCO).
Darlington toured the burned area with Global News, pointing out numerous dangers left behind by the fire, including unstable terrain, hazardous trees and hidden ash pits.
“We have trees that are burnt that potentially could fall, injure, harm people,” Darlington said. “We have rocks that are potentially broken, as a result of the heat of the fire, that could tumble down and injure people. We have burn holes on the sides of the trails, where a tree used to stand and we call them ash pits.”
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Officials estimate roughly one-third of the park was burned.
However, West Kelowna’s fire chief said the damage could have been much worse if not for fuel mitigation work carried out in previous years.
“This is a fire that we have planned for decades,” said West Kelowna Fire Chief Jason Brolund earlier this week. “The regional district has done wildfire mitigation work in the park for a day like today and it proved its worth.”
Geotechnical specialists and hazard-tree experts are expected to conduct a detailed assessment of the park early next week to determine the full extent of the damage and whether portions of the park can safely reopen.
For now, the public is being urged to stay away from the park and the many hidden hazards that exist within it.
“We have concern over public safety and public safety is our number one thing,” Darlington said.
Officials are reminding the public that campfires are not permitted in parks and could result in fines of up to $1,000.
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