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The Skaha Creek wildfire has morphed into a far more frightening monster Sunday evening.
Hit from mid-morning on by an arsenal of firefighting aircraft, the blaze nevertheless looked by late afternoon to be noticeably larger than earlier in the day. But it hadn't yet crested the ridge BC Wildfire was trying courageously to keep it behind.
All of that changed Sunday evening. By 7:30 pm, the ragged front line of the fire was burning brightly in the evening sky, easily visible across much of the city. It candled trees at will and steadily made its way down the mountain in the general direction of the luxury Skaha Hills development just west of Penticton airport.
At 3 pm the fire was estimated to be 17 hectares in size. By mid-evening, it had ballooned to 100 hectares.
PentictonNow took a variety of photos from within the development as dusk turned to night Sunday, shocked at just how quickly the fire was moving.
Rich, a Skaha Hills resident, said he and his partner had seen enough. They'd be self-evacuating within the hour.
"We saw no flames this morning," he said, "and it was generally white smoke. As the afternoon came on, it grew thicker and thicker.
"Helicopters, skimmers and bombers have been on it all day long, but it's now burning into some heavy fuels and as of the last 45 minutes, it's come over the hill and is now coming down.
"We haven't officially been evacuated, but we will be leaving. We packed last night, and we'll be leaving shortly. It's come down the hill a hundred meters already, and this is not worth sticking around for."
Another resident, Gordon, hoped to stick it out a bit longer.
"Last night there was a glow over the ridge but with the heat today, it's warmed up considerably despite all the valiant efforts of the skimmers, helicopters and tankers.
"But this evening, it's crept over the ridge edge and it's marching down the mountainside. Fortunately, I believe that area was burned out 20 or 30 years ago. So I'm hoping it will be stoppable.
"We'll be staying awake all night, watching the fire. If we get an evacuation order of course we'll leave. In the meantime, we'll pack up, get our dogs ready, our passports and key valuables, and be ready to pull out."
Gordon added he'd already spoken with several other residents.
"Few I think have decided to leave as of yet," he said, "but they may not have seen this dramatic last push of the fire down the side of the mountain over the past hour and a half."
PentictonNow observed at least a dozen other Skaha Hills residents seemingly in the midst of evac prep, some loading suitcases into their vehicles, others attaching trailers to their SUVs and trucks.
Monday morning is shaping up to be a key time for the Skaha Creek fire, classified as out of control and human-caused and first spotted Saturday afternoon.