Out of control wildfire near Kelowna, B.C., keeps homes under 'imminent risk'

A wildfire burning near Kelowna, B.C., remains out of control after growing overnight.

On Saturday afternoon, officials said the flames were within hundreds of metres.

"The fire is substantially close to a number of properties, it's within a few hundred metres of some," said Robert Krause with the B.C. Wildfire Service.

"It's not getting closer to them [than that], but they're still at imminent risk from this fire."

The B.C. Wildfire Service says the Philpott Road fire, burning about 25 kilometres east of the city, is now about 465 hectares in size. Late Saturday, officials said firefighters were able to contain it by 20 per cent.

About 1,100 people are out of their homes due to the fire, while fire officials saidno structure hasbeen damaged due to the blaze.

"The fire is still gaining a little bit of ground, it's certainly not growing as rapidly as it did two days ago when it made its initial run and that's because thankfully we don't have a lot of wind [Saturday]," said Krause.

Crews saw some relief on Friday as temperatures and wind dropped off slightly, but temperatures climbed to 30 C on Saturday.

Krause say he expects an active day for the fire on Sunday as temperatures remain high and relative humidity drops.

Highway 33 has been closed in the area, and an emergency support services reception centre has been set up at Kelowna's Willow Park Church.

The cause of the fire has not officially been determined, but the B.C. Wildfire Service suspects it was human-caused.

With files from Brenna Rose