PENTICTON, British Columbia — At an evacuation centre in Penticton, Greg Krauter arrived with an unusual part of his household: seven goats, transported in the back of his truck after the Bald Range wildfire forced him from his Summerland property. A photograph published by The Canadian Press showed one of the goats standing in the truck as smoke from the fire hung over the Okanagan region.
For Krauter and thousands of others, the hurried departure was part of a much larger upheaval across southern British Columbia. More than 20,000 people have been forced from their homes as fast-moving wildfires spread through communities along Okanagan Lake, prompting the province to declare a state of emergency and leaving residents uncertain about when, or in what condition, they will be able to return.
The Bald Range fire has become the centre of the crisis. Discovered on Friday, it expanded rapidly through exceptionally dry conditions, reaching about 50 square kilometres within three hours, according to British Columbia Wildfire Service information officer Nicole Bonnett. By Monday, the fire had grown to about 156 square kilometres and remained out of control. Smoke reduced visibility and limited the use of air tankers and water-skimming aircraft.
The speed of the fire left little room for residents to make careful choices about what to take with them.
Summerland, a community of about 12,000 people, was ordered evacuated on Saturday night, along with about 8,000 people in and around nearby Peachland, according to officials. Mayor Doug Holmes said the fire moved into the municipality within hours of beginning and that by midnight residents could no longer flee north on the highway, forcing evacuations south toward Penticton.
“We had to pack up our cars, neighbors were helping neighbors,” Holmes told The Associated Press. “People said they’ve never seen a fire move so fast.”
For some residents, leaving was only the first uncertainty.
Kyla Gaudiuso, who lives in the small community of Faulder, said she saw a photograph showing the ridge where her home stood engulfed in flames. She told AP that the evacuation had descended into “pandemonium” and that she was staying with a friend in Penticton.
“It doesn’t really seem real,” she said. “I have to see it to believe it.”
Authorities have warned that returning home is not yet possible for many evacuees. Power lines have been damaged, and officials must assess buildings for hazards before residents can safely go back. Holmes said a return would likely happen neighbourhood by neighbourhood rather than all at once. About 10,000 homes in Summerland, Peachland and surrounding areas remained under evacuation orders on Monday, while more than 3,200 were under evacuation alerts.
“The hard part is going home and seeing the devastation,” Holmes said.
The uncertainty has been compounded by the death of an 80-year-old woman from Meadow Valley. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said she died while evacuating her home with a family member and that police believe the death was caused by the wildfire. It was the first reported fatality linked to the Bald Range fire.
The death has underscored the risks faced by communities where evacuation itself can become dangerous. Summerland has a significant senior population, and Holmes said senior residents were given advance notice to help them leave before conditions deteriorated.
Across the province, the scale of the evacuation has placed pressure on emergency accommodation and response systems. The federal government approved a request from British Columbia for assistance with shelter and accommodations for people displaced by the fires. International crews have also joined the response, with personnel from Australia, New Zealand and Mexico supporting British Columbia firefighters.
The Canadian Armed Forces have been placed on standby, Defence Minister David McGuinty said, although any deployment would require a formal request from British Columbia. The federal government has already approved provincial requests for emergency accommodation and shelter.
Firefighters are confronting conditions that have made the Bald Range blaze unusually difficult to contain. Bonnett said the fire was being driven primarily by extremely dry conditions rather than wind. Ravi Parmar, British Columbia’s forests minister, said 19 helicopters had been assigned to the fire, but its intensity had overwhelmed the ability of crews to stop its spread.
“We could have put a thousand more helicopters and a thousand more people on the ground, and it wouldn’t have made a difference,” Parmar said.
The wider fire season has added to the pressure. Reuters reported that more than 4,600 wildfires had been recorded across Canada this year, burning about 4 million hectares. In British Columbia, wildfire officials warned that limited rain, high temperatures and stronger wind gusts could continue to increase fire danger in the Okanagan and southeastern parts of the province.
For Summerland, the immediate concern remains more concrete: getting people out, keeping them safe and determining what remains when they can finally return.
Holmes said residents would eventually go home, but he could not give them a timetable. The fire was still too dangerous for officials to fully assess the damage, leaving evacuees waiting away from the places where their homes, farms and belongings had been before the flames arrived.
“It’s going to be quite a bit,” Holmes said of the expected destruction. “We need to brace ourselves for that bad news when it’s time to go back. Everybody will know somebody who has lost a home.”
