Hundreds of people were forced to flee their homes due to an out of control wildfire on Knox Mountain in Kelowna, B.C. on Saturday afternoon.
The fire is currently classified as under control by BC Wildfire Service, but evacuation alerts remain in place.
Residents have now been allowed back with the fire under control, but at the peak of the fire fight, nearly 450 homes were evacuated.
Carol Fitzpatrick was one of those ordered to evacuate and she only had about 15 minutes to grab her belongings and go.
"The smoke was getting thicker and thicker, and people were out wandering down the sidewalks trying to get information from police," she told CTV News.
"We started throwing things together as fast as we could. Grabbed our dog, clothes, medications and we took off," she recalled.
Fitzpatrick has never been forced to leave her home before and said the whole experience was stressful and scary.
"There were police vehicles all over, blocking all the streets so no one could come through and signage. It was just a lot of chaos," she said.
Everyone was allowed back home Saturday evening and no injuries or structural impacts were reported.
"So this [wildfire] did receive a strong initial response with police and ground personnel, air tankers and helicopters throughout the evening. I think in total there were around 50 personnel," said BC Wildfire Service information officer Aydan Coray.
Evacuation alerts remain in place and officials say local residents should be ready to leave at a moment's notice.
Knox Mountain Park will stay closed until Tuesday.
It's believed that the fire was human-caused, but it remains under investigation.
"We are experiencing a period of warm and dry weather, some gusting winds so we do have crews and resources remaining on standby throughout the rest of the evening and throughout the summer," said Coray.
Officials urge the public to be mindful of conditions, especially as the weather gets hotter and drier, with the fire danger rating already moderate to high across most of B.C.
