Helicopters, air tankers and firefighters were attacking the 3.5-square-kilometre blaze raging behind the Glenrosa subdivision, some 275km east of Vancouver.
"You had to get out. We just did what we were told. We just picked up our belongings and got out," Wilf Carey said as he went in to register at the evacuee center.
Carey's house was among 6500 homes deemed in danger. At least three homes were destroyed, but no casualties were reported.
Another 6000 people in the West Kelowna subdivision were told to be on evacuation alert, according to updated figures released by Jeanne Rucker, of the British Columbia Forest Service.
Hotel rooms throughout the area quickly booked up Saturday night, leaving no vacancies.
It's not clear what caused the blaze, though Assistant Fire Chief Lou Wilde hinted strongly it may have been human-caused. "I'm quite certain lightning wasn't a factor," Wilde said.
A second fire was burning about 10km north at the nearby Rose Valley Reservoir, where another 1500 homes were under evacuation alert. A third fire, further north at Fintry, was also burning.
In 2003, lightning strikes triggered a fire that scorched 250km, destroyed more than 200 homes and caused millions of dollars in property damage.
