At 5:59 pm on August 15, the McDougall Creek fire was discovered about 10 km northwest of West Kelowna and reported to the B.C. Wildfire Service. On the evening of August 17, 2023, a constant wind gust caused the wildfire to rapidly spread across the mountains. At 1:25 pm PT on August 17, the evacuation alert was expanded, and an evacuation order was issued by the City of West Kelowna for 68 properties. Throughout the evening of August 17, further evacuation orders were issued by emergency officials.
Grouse Complex At around 9:55 pm, August 17, the wildfire jumped over
Okanagan Lake sparking two new wildfires north of downtown Kelowna, forcing a state of emergency by the city and further evacuations. The Walroy Lake fire started on the eastern side of Okanagan Lake near the neighbourhood of Glenmore Highlands, and the Clarke Creek wildfire started near Okanagan Centre, west of
Lake Country. Together, the three fires were named the Grouse Complex. Just after 10:20 am PT, August 18,
Kelowna International Airport announced that they were suspending flights to and from the airport until further notice. Just after 6:15 pm, August 18, Premier
David Eby declared a state of emergency due to the changing and worsening fire condition. The province also advised against nonessential travel to the BC Interior. On August 19, the province announced in a ministerial order that non-essential travels into the B.C. Interior and southeast B.C. would be restricted until September 4, 2023. The order restricts accommodations such as hotels, inns, motels, provincial parks, RV parks, bed and breakfasts, and public campgrounds in West Kelowna, Kelowna,
Kamloops,
Osoyoos,
Oliver,
Penticton, and
Vernon to essential purposes only. On August 23, the province lifted most wildfire-related travel restrictions in the southern interior, with the exception of West Kelowna.
Bowinn Ma, Minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness, urged people to continuously avoid fire-affected communities and respect evacuation orders and alerts. As of September 1, the wildfire was estimated at 13,712 hectares in size and still classified as out of control. The wildfire was still actively burning along the west and southwest flanks. On September 21, the B.C. Wildfire Services reported that the wildfire was "being held" and that was fire was "not likely to spread past predetermined boundaries under current conditions." The area restriction order remained in place until October 3. However, four regional district parks remained closed to the public. ==Damage==