New fire evacuation order as residents go home

Just as all remaining West Kelowna fire evacuees were allowed to return home, a new evacuation order was issued Wednesday for about a dozen residents in the rural town of Fintry.

Thirteen residents from 10 homes are being forced out of their homes because of the still-out-of-control Terrace Mountain fire, which has razed more than 1,800 hectares.

Meanwhile, the last of the residents who had been under a mandatory evacuation order because of the Glenrosa and Rose Valley fires will be allowed to return home at 5 p.m. Wednesday.

Joy Oliver said the mood inside the evacuation centre was euphoric.

"Oh my gosh. Everybody just clapped and they were so excited," she said.

Fire crews expect to have the Glenrosa and Rose Valley fires fully contained by the end of the day.

About 600 residents were allowed to return to their homes Wednesday morning, joining 6,000 who were allowed back on Tuesday.

In Pictures: Evacuees return home to fire destruction

The Gorman Brothers sawmill on the edge of the fire zone is also being allowed to reopen.

Authorities have said the fires, which have destroyed three homes, were human-caused, but it is still not known if any were deliberately set.

With three months remaining in B.C.'s forest fire season, the budget to fight wildfires is almost exhausted.

Premier Gordon Campbell says $52 million of the $61-million firefighting budget has already been spent on fires, including the three blazes in the Okanagan Valley.

But Campbell says his Liberal government will spend whatever is necessary to keep homes and people safe.

Campbell toured the Okanagan fires yesterday and announced emergency social services payments will continue for another three days for West Kelowna residents who are still evacuated.

The province announced that a campfire ban will come into effect this Friday at noon. It applies to all provincial parks and all public and private land outside of organized areas. It does not apply within municipalities or districts with their own burning bylaws.

The ban extends from the northern border of Wells Gray Park, north of Blue River to the U.S. border in the south, and from the Bridge River Glacier west of Goldbridge to the Monashee Mountains east of Lumby.

With reports from CTV British Columbia's Stephen Smart, Kent Molgat and Lisa Rossington and The Canadian Press

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  Eunice Gorman, left, and her cousin Merle Griffin look over the remains of Gorman's son's home that was destroyed by a wildfire in the Glenrosa area of Kelowna, B.C. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

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  Eunice Gorman leaves after stopping to view the remains of her son's home that was destroyed by a wildfire in the Glenrosa area of Kelowna, B.C., on Wednesday July 22, 2009. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

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  Eunice Gorman, left, and her cousin Merle Griffin look over the remains of Gorman's son's home that was destroyed by a wildfire in the Glenrosa area of Kelowna, B.C. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

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  West Kelowna fire chief Wayne Schnitzler, left, and British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell talk during an aerial tour of areas affected by wildfires in Kelowna, B.C., on Tuesday July 21, 2009. (CP/Darryl Dyck)