90-metre landslide shuts road north of Lake Okanagan Resort, fire chief says

Two landslides, including a massive 90-metre slide, have shut down a road north of Lake Okanagan Resort, according to fire officials.

Paul Zydowicz, chief of the Wilson's Landing Fire Department, said the slides came down at around 10 p.m. Tuesday. He described one slide as being about 90 metres wide and nearly two metres deep.

"It's quite the swath of mud that came off the mountain," he said in an interview.

DriveBC said Westside Road remained closed Wednesday morning due to the slide south of Denison Road. It's unclear when it will reopen.

WATCH | Landslides close road between Vernon, West Kelowna: 

Landslide closes the only direct road between Vernon and West Kelowna

19 hours ago

Duration 1:44

A debris slide in the central Okanagan has closed off the only direct road running between Vernon and West Kelowna. As Brady Strachan reports, it happened along steep slopes where a wildfire burned trees and vegetation two years ago.

Zydowicz said there are no reports of injuries or structure damage. 

He said he believes the landslides were caused by the amount of rain the area got in March.

"There's flows in the area that we haven't experienced in the past. Creeks have started running that normally don't run," Zydowicz said.

The Central Okanagan Emergency Operations said crews will be released Wednesday, then the site will be turned over to the Ministry of Transportation.

"We appreciate the patience of residents and motorists," said Sally Ginter, director of the Emergency Operations Centre, in a statement. 

The operations centre said the area of the slide was "significantly impacted" by the 2023 McDougall Creek Wildfire.

"Properties located in the post-wildfire areas are subject to a higher risk of potential debris flow runout and upstream diversion," it said.