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The British Columbia government has declared a provincial state of emergency after a ferocious wildfire forced 20,000 people out of two communities along Okanagan Lake.
Premier David Eby said Saturday that the fast-moving wildfire that pushed people out of Summerland and Peachland was “like a bomb” going off.
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Eby said some people became trapped by the fire and needed to be rescued, and search and rescue efforts continue behind the fire lines for anyone else who may have been caught.
Cliff Chapman, the director of wildfire operations with BC Wildfire Services, said during the briefing that firefighting helicopters were instead used for search and rescue operations for those who could no longer get out.
“I am certain that the outcome of this event would have been significantly worse had we not worked together, multi-jurisdictionally across this fire, everybody stepping up to save people’s lives in Summerland.”
Flames from the Bald Range wildfire west of Summerland, B.C. light up the Okanagan sky. (Tracy Sherlock/Submitted)
More than 20,000 residents were forced to evacuate communities along Okanagan Lake overnight, some plucked to safety by helicopter as an explosive wildfire surged toward them, destroying homes in its path.
The Summerland fire is just one of several wildfires that have threatened communities and destroyed homes in the province this summer.
About 350 buildings, most of them homes, have been destroyed in fires in the Cariboo and Okanagan regions.
Of the more than 100 wildfires burning, almost half of them are out of control, fuelled by hot and windy weather and long-standing drought conditions.
Chapman said fire conditions in the southern part of the province are “explosive” and more wildfires similar to the one that forced the evacuation Summerland could spring up.
Evacuation orders cover the entire community of Summerland, population 12,000, while a further 8,000 were told to flee in and around Peachland, both on the western shore of the lake in the B.C. Interior.
Officials have not tallied destruction from the fire that erupted late Friday, but the flame front overwhelmed the smaller community of Faulder as the Bald Range wildfire closed the 15-kilometre distance to Summerland in just a few hours.
Social media videos showed multiple homes ablaze as residents fled, with fire on both sides of the road.
The Bald Range wildfire west of Summerland, B.C., is shown in this Friday handout photo. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout — B.C. Wildfire Servicet)
Roads south from Summerland toward Penticton were jammed with evacuees after the order for the entire community to flee came down at midnight, followed by expanded orders covering communities north toward Peachland.
The blaze was first reported at 5:30 p.m. Friday, but it exploded in size, burning 50 square kilometres in a few hours, raining ash on Summerland.
By Saturday morning the fire had nearly doubled again, growing to 95 square kilometres.
The District of Summerland declared of local state of emergency, allowing it to authorize the evacuation of the entire community and limit travel.
Evacuation orders and alerts issued by the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen, the District of Summerland and Central Okanagan Emergency Management on Friday, Aug. 7, 2026, and Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026, in response to the Bald Range Wildfire. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Regional District Okanagan-Similkameen EOC)
Emergency information officer Erick Thompson with the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen said it was one of the “quickest-moving, fastest-growing” wildfires the area had seen.
The escape from Summerland played out on the district’s YouTube feed, where Thompson hosted a series of live videos, ending with an evacuation from his own home after he was forced to abandon the emergency operations centre and race to his family.
“I had to leave the EOC to come and get my family to leave this area. We’re heading south,” he said around 1:40 a.m. in a final video from his darkened vehicle. “There’s a lot of traffic backup right now.”
Smoke from the Bald Range wildfire west of Summerland, B.C., is shown in this Friday handout photo. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout — B.C. Wildfire Service)
He urged fellow residents to get out as quickly as possible.
“I don’t need to tell anybody that it’s troubling for everyone that this is happening to our community, but we have to be strong, (for) our loved ones, and especially for everyone who needs the help, needs the support. So, look in on your neighbours.”
The BC Wildfire Service said helicopters were used to evacuate “residents and recreationalists” ahead of the surging flame front.
“Winds were carrying embers up to a kilometre ahead of the main body of the fire,” the service said in an update.
It said that while airtankers dropped retardant overnight along the fire’s east flank to try to save structures and slow the blaze, “winds accelerated and fire behaviour became volatile and eventually compromised the safety and efficiency of airtanker objectives.”
Summerland homeowner Kerry Gold and her husband, Mike Elsinga, said in an interview before they fled around 12:30 a.m. that they could see flames licking the skies beyond the mountains.
“It’s scary. It’s moving fast,” Gold said from their newly restored heritage home.
Elsinga said the fire was heralded around 7 p.m. by a “massive plume” of smoke. Then Gold said there was “nothing but flames in the near distance.”
The couple just moved to the community from Vancouver.
The Bald Range wildfire west of Summerland, B.C., is shown in this Friday handout photo. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout — B.C. Wildfire Service)
Gold’s preparations — their bags packed, cat-carrier standing by and plans to help a disabled friend in town — helped ease their escape.
Elsinga added that you can’t carry much, and after looking out for family, friends and pets, everything else is replaceable. “You want to stay here and protect your home, but I guess you also don’t want to get caught in it,” he said.
“This is crazy,” Gold said. “I’ve never seen anything like it because I went from being in the city to suddenly being in the Okanagan and discovering what this means.”
The BC Wildfire Service said in an update that the fire’s behaviour calmed Saturday morning, but they expected that to increase as temperatures rise and light winds, which are in the forecast for Saturday, start to pick up.
It said more fire crews, structure protection personnel, fire departments, heavy equipment and aircraft were being mobilized.
“Helicopters and airtankers will be used for various objectives, including water and suppressant delivery, and reconnaissance as conditions allow. Smoke and visibility may present challenges for aircraft,” the wildfire service said.
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