First Yellowknife, NWT, now Kelowna, BC..The City of Kelowna declared a state of emergency after the McDougall Creek wildfire jumped Okanagan Lake overnight, forcing evacuations as spot fires ignite..An emergency alert was sent out at 10 p.m. on Thursday. Officials said the fire grew six times its size overnight.."We went to a lookout point in the Magic Estates area in east Kelowna to see the fires on the west side around 9 p.m.," Melanie Risdon told the Western Standard.. Fires burn in BC ."We stayed there for about an hour and then left. Once we arrived home a little after 10 p.m., my niece, who lives here, started to see posts on Facebook community pages showing the fire had jumped the lake and was now burning in the area we had just left minutes before.".Risdon said it’s a heavily populated area..A state of emergency has been declared in the city and thousands more in West Kelowna have been ordered to leave their homes in the face of a fast-burning wildfire..Before noon on Friday, officials closed the Kelowna airport to commercial traffic, saying the airspace was needed for firefighting aircraft..An overnight news release from the Central Okanagan Emergency Operation Centre says officials have confirmed some structural loss and a full assessment of the affected areas will be conducted in the morning..The operation centre said firefighters continued to work diligently overnight on interface areas of the McDougall Creek to protect property and infrastructure in West Kelowna..The fire remains very active and unpredictable.. Fire in West Kelowna BC .Overnight, officials confirmed some structural loss. A full assessment of the areas affected will be undertaken in the morning..A detailed update will be provided at 10 a.m. on Friday by Emergency Officials..Currently, 2,462 properties are under Evacuation Order and 4,801 properties are under evacuation alert for the McDougall Creek Wildfire..All current orders and alerts remain in place and the public is reminded to stay out of the evacuation areas as they are active fire zones..As per Transport Canada, drones are prohibited from flying over a forest fire area or any area located within five nautical miles of a forest fire area.."It’s terribly sad to know there are people being affected by this and my prayers are with them," Ridson said.."We desperately need some rain across several provinces.". Knox Mountain Fire West Kelowna
