Trudeau praises wildfire efforts on visit to West Kelowna

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has labelled as “extraordinary” the efforts of firefighters and other emergency responders in battling the wildfires that have devastated parts of British Columbia in the last week.

Speaking in West Kelowna, which sees thousands of residents still on evacuation order, Trudeau said the federal government would support communities seeking assistance.

“We are going to continue to be there as a federal government, whether that be through the armed forces, whether it’s with federal supports, to provincial resources,” he said during a brief media opportunity.

Speaking in front of a board adorned with thank you cards to emergency personnel, Trudeau said it was important for communities to rebuild and learn from the experiences of recent days.

He said he’d heard "extraordinary stories of heroism" as he tours the Okanagan region to meet with firefighters, volunteers and officials involved in the battle against innumerable wildfires.

He said such events will become more frequent in a warming world and insurance will likely become more difficult to obtain.

Trudeau, who met local fire chiefs and firefighters at a firehall in West Kelowna, said lessons need to be learned about how to build safely and conversations are also needed about better forest management.

Trudeau's visit comes after the last travel restriction for the Okanagan was lifted, alongside evacuation orders within the City of Kelowna, following recent rainfall.

B.C. Emergency Management Minister Bowinn Ma said in a statement late Thursday that travel restrictions to West Kelowna were to be lifted as of midnight.

The Central Okanagan Emergency Operations Centre has downgraded all orders within Kelowna, as well as those for some homes in West Kelowna Estates and more than 300 properties in the District of Lake Country, to alert status.

Almost 200 homes were lost or damaged around Lake Okanagan in the past week.

Two major blazes are being held by firefighters, but the McDougall Creek fire threatening West Kelowna remains out of control.

--With files from The Canadian Press