Rapidly spreading blaze forces evacuation of over 20,000 residents in BC

A wildfire dubbed the Bald Range blaze ignited on Friday evening in British Columbia and quickly grew to cover about 50 square kilometres, racing toward towns bordering Okanagan Lake. The fire’s rapid advance forced officials to order the evacuation of the entire Summerland community, roughly 12,000 people, and about 8,000 residents in and around Peachland. Smaller settlement Faulder was also overwhelmed as the flames traveled roughly 15 kilometres to Summerland at extraordinary speed.

Erick Thompson, an emergency official with the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen, called it one of the fastest-growing fires the area has seen and had to abandon the emergency operations centre to safeguard his family. Social-media videos showed homes ablaze as residents fled, including Kerry Gold and her husband Mike Elsinga, who left after watching the fire spread beyond nearby mountains. Authorities have not yet confirmed the number of homes destroyed, but the incident adds to Canada’s increasingly severe wildfire seasons that have repeatedly displaced thousands and sent smoke across North America.