A fireboat send up a small plume of water as fire scorches a hillside near Peachland, B.C. (CBC) A fire that quickly consumed 30 hectares of grass and bush in B.C.'s Okanagan has been contained, but emergency crews are watching the weather closely and an evacuation order remains in effect.

The fire was reported at about 10:30 a.m. PT Monday, but expanded rapidly because of strong winds.

One home, two garages, a police car and a boat were destroyed in the fire.

Thirty-seven people living in the area had to leave quickly when police knocked on their doors, including 15 residents who escaped by boat from the Seclusion Bay Resort when their road access was cut off.

Fire Information officer Jerry Wearing says while they're optimistic the fire has been contained, he's says it's still a very dangerous fire that is burning in steep and rocky ground with dry fuel.

Police have reopened Highway 97 after it had been closed for hours Monday.

Boaters were still being told to stay well away from the fire in order to avoid interfering with firefighting operations.

An emergency social services reception centre was being set up in Westbank at the Lions Hall at 2466 Main Street. All evacuees were being asked to register at the centre, said Westbank public information officer Kristen Jones.

Fire scars the roadside near Peachland, B.C. (Graham Stevens/CBC)

Helicopter water tankers and firefighters were dispatched to the area to fight the blaze, which fire officials called the Drought Hill fire.

Watching her house burn

Speaking from a boat just off the shore of Seclusion Bay, resort manager Ida Sharp told CBC News by telephone that she was watching the blaze from the water, powerless to protect her home.

"Just flames shooting everywhere, and it's long, and it's big, and I'm just watching it heading to my house right now," said Sharp, just before noon.

"Yeah … I'm just watching my house go up in smoke pretty quick."

The resort at Seclusion Bay is located between the Okanagan towns of Westbank and Peachland, close to the junction of Highway 97 and the Okanagan Connector.

In addition to the 28 cabins at the resort, there are five other private homes in the area, said Sharp.

"It's so dry here — it's just going up — just boom," said Sharp.

Sharp first spotted the flames Monday morning and called the fire department and then began the evacuation of the resort with the help of police.

"Nobody had time to grab anything, so we're all sitting out here with nothing," she said.

With files from The Canadian Press