The Testalinden fire forced the abandonment of the Mount Kobau Star Party which was due to end Sunday morning, below is an email from the organisers of the event, the first time in 31 years that they have had to leave the mountain early.

“A fire broke out on Mt Kobau today at around 6 pm. It quickly became a rank 5 fire covering 450 hectares. We evacuated the top of the mountain and got everyone off safely. I’d like to thank everyone who were on the mountain for their quick response to evacuate, help each other to pack up and get down the mountain just in time.” Colleen