'Things are looking up': Some evacuation orders lifted, lost homes being counted in B.C.'s Okanagan

Some people will be able to return home as an evacuation order for dozens of properties was rescinded in Kelowna Sunday afternoon.

The properties will remain under evacuation alert, and residents will still need to be ready to leave at a moment’s notice.

The downgraded addresses include all properties accessed off Quail Bridge Boulevard including the Quail Ridge Golf Club, and several properties in the University of British Columbia-Okanagan district, according The Central Okanagan Emergency Operations Centre.

An interactive map of the evacuation orders and alerts in the area is available on cordemergency.ca. 

The news comes as fire officials announced Sunday that conditions were starting to improve after wildfires devastated the Kelowna area, forcing thousands of people to flee and destroying several homes.

“We're finally feeling like we're moving forward, rather than we're moving backwards. And that's a great feeling for all of us to have,” West Kelowna Fire Chief Jason Brolund told a news conference Sunday.

He said weather conditions were favourable and fire behaviour decreased, meaning crews can start to think about recovery, and letting people come home.

For those in West Kelowna, which bore the brunt of the damage from the McDougall Creek wildfire, that won’t happen just yet.

“I ask you to bear with us, as I noted the other day, cooperate together, be strong and be safe. And we're all in this together. We will work through it,” Brolund said.

For those waiting to hear if their homes survived the fires, Brolund said work to get that information out is underway.

Canada Task Force 1, a heavy urban search and rescue team comprised of paramedics, engineers, firefighters, police and doctors arrived in the Okanagan Sunday. Part of the work they will be doing is taking inventory of the properties that have been lost or damaged, Brolund explained.

The team will also be stabilizing utilities in the area and making sure neighbourhoods are safe to return to.

“As this data starts to stream in from the field, the planning work is underway on how we will begin to report on the numbers of loss and how we commence notifications to the people who have experienced loss. That is going to be a very difficult process both logistically and emotionally,” Brolund said.

“Some of you have lost your homes. There's no question about that. But most of you have survived. There are lots of backyards where the fire has come right to your patio furniture. And it's been stopped there because of the work of the 500 people that are on the ground fighting it,” he continued.

Officials said no homes have been destroyed over the past 24 hours.