When Kelowna burned 20 years ago

It was 20 years ago when the Okanagan Mountain Park Fire burst into life on August 16, 2003, an event that has helped shape wildfire preparedness and fuel mitigation across the country.

The blaze loomed red and terrifying on the city’s southern outskirts and at one stage threatened to destroy the entire city.

It forced over 33,000 evacuations, caused more than $200 million in damages with over 230 homes lost. But, miraculously, there were no fatalities, although it came perilously close for one of the brave firefighting teams.

‘We got lucky’

“l think about how lucky we were with as little tragedy as we had,” then fire chief Gerry Zimmermann said during an event Wednesday to mark the 20th anniversary. “I think about it …especially on a day like today when it’s smoky out.”

Zimmermann oversaw the fire department’s ground operations in the wake of the fire that came out of the blue.

“ We’d never had anything like that near the urban interface. We had a plan [to combat it] but we sure didn’t expect it ,” he explained.

He recollects on the one night when over 200 homes were lost, three task force teams of twenty men each, got trapped. They got two of them out, but one of the squads, in Kettle Valley, couldn’t be reached.

“We got lucky. They got to a safe spot and got under their trucks, but they figured they’d had it,” he said, noting how everyone thought they wouldn’t make it.

Bulldozers ready to save city

“We were getting ready to bulldoze a swath, right around Barnaby Road (south of the North Mission-Crawford area), to try to save the rest of the city. We had the bulldozers rolling and what happened, the skies opened up, and it started to rain up there. We couldn’t believe it. It was like divine intervention.”

Zimmermann said while there was a wildfire plan in place in 2003, jurisdictional issues meant there wasn’t a coordinated effort along with the BC Wildfire Service, but that’s a thing of the past. It’s a new reality current fire chief Travis Whiting is keen to point out.

“ What came out of that loss that will help us going forward?,” Whiting said. “The answer comes down to one word: collaboration.”

As a result of the 2003 wildfire, he explained there are now systems in place to officially move all resources to whatever community needs them.

“This year alone Kelowna has sent crews and leadership to fires in northern BC, Merritt, Osoyoos, Cranbrook and Sparwood,” he said. “We integrate seamlessly with BC Wildfire Service.”

He noted the effective collaboration in tackling the Canada Day Knox Mountain Wildfire six weeks ago which led to its quick resolution with minimal damage. Extensive fuel mitigation work in that area also helped.

Lasting memories

In thanking the professionals and volunteers who helped with the thousands of evacuations in August 2023, and those who continue to stand ready for any event in future, mayor Tom Dyas said anyone who was around twenty years ago lives with powerful memories.

“It’s an event that’s etched in the minds of all those who experienced it,” he said. “Seeing the smoke cloud billowing and looming over the hillside from any location within our city, witnessing the trees burning… seeing families gathered on beaches to stop and watch in awe of the firestorm.

“We are very grateful no lives were lost and our community strength allowed us to recover from the second largest civilian evacuation in Canadian history.”