Global Connections
Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada Kelowna Fire 2023
B Y C A R O L T U R KO
I
have spent most of my life on the Canadian prairies, where I raised my two sons. Then, I followed my dream to move west to the beautiful Okanagan Valley in British Columbia, Canada. On August 15th, 2023, a wildfire started in the McDougall Creek area and spread quickly to West Kelowna, then across the lake to Kelowna. I was on my way home from a long vacation out east when I heard of this aggressive wildfire that was quickly advancing. At first, I did not take note of it because we have fires in the Okanagan every summer. But this soon proved to be a very aggressive wildfire, as it moved through whole neighborhoods along 104
West Side road. It was being likened to the fire Kelowna had experienced exactly 20 years before, on August 16th, 2003, which started with a lightning strike and resulted in hundreds of homes lost. This recent, very aggressive wildfire destroyed nearly 200 homes and other structures; its cause remains under investigation. As I drove home through Sicamouse, BC, almost 2 hours away from Kelowna, it was apparent that a wildfire was also in this area. Smoke began seeping into my SUV. My eyes were burning, and I was coughing profusely. It was the middle of the day, yet it looked like the middle of the night. The gray smoke that filled the air had a red tinge to
