Terrace Mountain fire evacuees flee

People scrambled to gather up their belongings as thousands living along the northwest shore of Lake Okanagan were forced to leave their homes Thursday because of the growing fire at Terrace Mountain north of Kelowna.

Forest officials said the blaze was racing at nearly two kilometres per hour and had grown to a span of 4,000 hectares by Thursday.

Approximately 2,200 residents were ordered to leave their homes and an expanded evacuation alert was issued as the flames raged just six kilometres from nearby homes.

Many, like Fred Fersovich, heard of the evacuation order over the radio.

"No one has actually come around yet to tell us, but I'm not going to wait to find out," he said.

Resident Ken Juntunen said he's just hoping he doesn't lose his home in the blaze.

"Last December, we went through a house fire already," he said.  "We lost our home here, and … I'm rebuilding it, and now, I'm getting as much water on this thing as possible."

At the nearby resort community of La Casa, employees went knocking on doors to spread the news.

"When he comes to the door and says 'You've got 20 minutes; you've got to be out of here' … it leaves you a little shushed," said evacuee Larry Giles.

Residents affected by the evacuation order were asked to leave the area by travelling north on Westside Road and register in person with Emergency Social Services at the Vernon Recreation Centre, at 3310 37th Ave. in Vernon.

Residents were given little time to get out as the flames raced closer, and officials said the fire would likely continue to grow, despite the welcome rain that started falling Thursday afternoon.

Crews struggled to bring the blaze under control, as 175 firefighters attacked the fire on the ground and seven helicopters worked from the air.

Crews should have been fighting fire sooner, say residents

However, some of those forced to flee say it's too little too late because more attention was paid to fighting the two fires raging near West Kelowna, a community on the west shore of Lake Okanagan across from Kelowna.

"Now, apparently we have to be evicted, and I don't think this should have happened if they would have put more resources on this fire to start off with," said Peter Williamson.

Another resident agreed.

"They never even had any equipment on here, and they have been putting fire lines in a long time ago," he said.

One woman told CBC News residents feel the Terrace Mountain fire should have been given more priority.

"People are annoyed for the fact that we were ignored, you know, and saying that it's getting bigger and bigger, but nobody was coming out this way, nobody was giving us attention," she said.

But Jerry Wearing with the B.C. Forest Service said that's not true.

Despite the fact that the fires in the Glenrosa and Rose Valley districts of West Kelowna were always described as priority fires, he said, Terrace Mountain was handled properly.

"Well, emotions are running very high, and it's a perfectly natural thing when your homes and neighbourhoods are threatened, [but] the fact remains, the forest service has always considered the Terrace Mountain fire to be a dangerous fire," he said.