Thousands flee raging wildfires in Kelowna About 17 , 000 people have been told they must leave their homes as wildfires rage in B . C . ' s Kelowna area . 19 / 07 / 2009 1 : 39 : 02 PMThousands flee fires in West KelownaGo to CTV . cafunction closeZone ( ) { obj = document . getElementById ( " playeroutline "); obj . style . visibility = ' hidden '; obj . style . display = ' none '; } var flashVars ; var vidHeight = " 345 "; var vidWidth = " 460 "; function InitPlayer ( ) { if ( " 38346 a 6 e - 4991 - 458 b - 85 f 5 - bdbaaee 41 bd 1 " ! = "") { flashVars = { ad : " false ", timePlaying : "", pg : " MSVV 42 ", bsbpg : " MSVBSB ", mkt : " en - ca ", t : "", c : " v ", v : " 38346 a 6 e - 4991 - 458 b - 85 f 5 - bdbaaee 41 bd 1 ", ch : " true ", skin : " 2 ", partnerlogo : " false ", brand : " sympatico ", fr : " inline ", fg : " gtlv 2 ", ps : " 1 ", p : "", ap : " false ", msnlink : " false ", pl : " false ", ifs : " false "}; Msn . Video . Build ( " msnPlayer "," downlevel text description ", flashVars , vidWidth , vidHeight ) ; window . msnPlayer _ pobj = document . forms [ 0 ] . msnPlayer _ pobj ; } else { flashVars = { ad : " false ", timePlaying : "", pg : " MSVV 42 ", bsbpg : " MSVBSB ", mkt : " en - ca ", t : "", c : " v ", v : " 38346 a 6 e - 4991 - 458 b - 85 f 5 - bdbaaee 41 bd 1 ", ch : " true ", skin : " 2 ", partnerlogo : " false ", brand : " sympatico ", fr : " inline ", fg : " gtlv 2 ", ps : " 1 ", p : "", ap : " false ", msnlink : " false ", pl : " false ", ifs : " false "}; var poutLine = document . getElementById ( ' playeroutline '); document . getElementById ( ' playeroutline 1 '). style . width = vidWidth ; closeZone ( poutLine ) ; }} InitPlayer ( ) ; Westbankresident Dorwin Curtis watches the Glenrosa fire spread near Kelowna , B . C . , on Saturday , July 18 , 2009 . ( Daniel Hayduk / THE CANADIAN PRESS ) CTV . ca News Staff i n i t ializeArticleBodyFontSize ( ) A fire in the Glenrosa neighbourhood began around 2 : 40 p . m . local time Saturday and now covers about 300 hectares . A second fire in the Rose Valley Reservoir began around 9 : 30 p . m . local time Saturday and has since expected to cover 75 hectares . The BC Forest Service said Sunday it has dedicated 45 firefighters , seven helicopters and a number of water bombers to battle the Glenrosablaze . According to a news release , the Forest Service also plans to send another 80 firefighters to the scene . " The ( Forest Service ) is going to be throwing a lot of resources atit today , so hopefully we can get the upper hand , " West Kelowna FireChief Rene Blanleil said Sunday on CTV News Channel . Forty firefighters are battling a third blaze , a 100 hectare firenear Terrace Mountain . However , that fire is not a threat to anystructures . Tom Wilson of Kelowna ' s emergency operations centre said investigators are still trying to determine the cause of the fires . " There ' s been really no indication one way or the other about howthey started , " Wilson told CTV News Channel early Sunday morning . oneof the theories that is being put forward is that the Rose Valley firemight have been started by embers from the original Glenrosa fire . " The Glenrosa fire has destroyed nine structures , at least three ofthem houses , according to officials . Blanleil said that damageassessment teams hope to inspect the structures at some point Sunday todetermine the extent of the destruction . At one point the blaze threatened the Gorman Brothers sawmill . However , fire officials said early Sunday morning that the mill hadbeen saved . International Trade Minister Stockwell Day , who represents theriding of Okanagan - Coquihalla , said he could see the blazes escalatenear his home . " Our home is , as the crow flies , about 2 kilometres from the lastevacuation point , " he told CTV News Channel . " Right from our backyardwe have full visibility of the fires . We literally saw it at its start , when it was just a wisp of smoke . And then the wind came up incredibly , and pushed these fires to inferno levels . " Meanwhile , more than 3 , 000 residents in Peachland and Summerland are without power . BC Hydro said some of the outages were forced outages to ensure the safety of residents as fire crews battle the flames . " Our crews will go out first thing ( Sunday ) morning as soon as theycan gain safe access to the affected areas to inspect the lines , " BCHydro spokesperson Jeanette Hoft told reporters . " But we would like toask residents in these areas to prepare for an outage for at least aday . " According to Wilson , many residents are leaving their homes andstaying with friends and family . However , Royal LePage Place -- a localhockey arena -- is housing those who have no place to go . Wilson said RCMP and fire officials are having few problemsevacuating residents , who remember the devastation caused by forestfires in 2003 , which destroyed more than 250 homes and caused more than 30 , 000 people to flee their homes . " That ' s still pretty fresh in people ' s minds and in a way I thinkit ' s helped with this , people getting prepared to evacuate and nottaking matters lightly , " Wilson said . " They ' ve seen what damage can bedone and they ' re reacting accordingly . 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