RCMP in British Columbia are asking residents who live near a wildfire in Kelowna to be ready for a possible evacuation.
Police say the fire in the Ellison area, east of Kelowna's airport, is affecting Rockface Road, Upper Booth Road and Dead Pine Road and that officers are conducting what an RCMP news release calls "tactical evacuations" of homes in the area.
The Kelowna Fire Department is on-scene working to contain the fire.
RCMP say the blaze is burning uphill toward Postill Lake, which is northeast of Kelowna, and toward several other nearby lakes that have cabins and campsites.
Police are advising the public in those areas above Ellison to leave as a precaution.
They say it is not yet known whether the fire will reach the lakes, but note there are limited access roads for evacuation from the surrounding forested areas.
"Kelowna RCMP and emergency service partners cannot stress enough the importance of staying out of the area," police said in their news release Sunday afternoon.
"Emergency services will not allow members of the general public into the evacuation zone. Please stay away for your safety and the safety of responders."
Meanwhile, the only blaze of note identified by the BC Wildfire Service earlier Sunday continued to grow.
The Izman Creek wildfire near Lytton was burning 245 hectares. This latest blaze comes just over four years after a wildfire destroyed much of Lytton.
Lytton is located in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, which has an evacuation alert in effect for some properties under its jurisdiction due to the Izman Creek wildfire.
The regional district also lifted an evacuation alert Friday that had been in effect for properties threatened by the Mount Scatchard wildfire, west of the town of Chase, B.C.
An evacuation order from the Neskonlith Indian Band for about 40 properties was downgraded to an alert last week for the Mount Scatchard blaze.
There were 82 active wildfires in B.C. on Sunday, 21 of which were classified as out of control.
Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout — BC Wildfire Service
