Fire forces evacuation of Okanagan’s Mission Hill winery

A grass fire near Mission Hill Winery in Okanagan, British Columbia, forced dozens of residents to be evacuated, including winery staff, with police deeming the blaze to be “suspicious”.

Mission Hill Winery in Okanagan

Around 50 homes and the winery were evacuated on Saturday evening as a precautionary measure following a grass fire that was fed by strong winds in West Kelowna, which spread quickly across a hillside below the winery, as reported by Global News. 

At the height of the blaze, 50 firefighters were on hand to beat back the flames, which was under control that the same evening and evacuation orders lifted.

While the cause of the blaze is not yet known, there was no lightning in the area at the time.

The fire remains under investigation, with police calling the blaze suspicious, however no structures were damaged and no injuries were reported.

Forest fire below Mission Hill winery in West Kelowna, many homes threatened by carelessness. Let’s not forget it is forest fire season. West Kelowna and Kelowna fire and police resources on the scene pic.twitter.com/gZxnZ5bmvV

— Ben Stewart (@benstewartbc) May 27, 2018