Wildfire context for Highway 97C Okanagan Connector
Highway 97C crosses dry Interior plateau and forest between the Okanagan and Nicola Valley, with long grades, limited services, recreation access, and weather-exposed sections. Wildfire or smoke can affect visibility and travel well away from either endpoint community.
Why this place-level view is useful
The Okanagan Connector is a distinct travel corridor linking two wildfire-sensitive regions and cannot be represented well by either Kelowna or Merritt alone. FireRadar provides environmental context while DriveBC remains authoritative for highway operations and closures.
Smoke forecast and air quality
Wildfire smoke forecast and measured air-quality information answer different questions. FireRadar keeps ECCC forecast smoke and AQHI observations separate so a model forecast is not presented as a local air-quality measurement.
Official wildfire source for British Columbia
Official incident markers come from the BC Wildfire Service feed. Marker locations are informational and do not replace official emergency notices or local emergency instructions.
Emergency, closure, and travel information
FireRadar is an informational wildfire map. It does not issue evacuation instructions, park closures, road closures, travel advisories, or fire-spread predictions. Follow the applicable provincial, territorial, municipal, Indigenous, parks, transportation, and emergency authorities for operational decisions.