B.C. Wildfire Destroyed 150 Structures, Forced 20,000 to Flee

A fast-moving wildfire in western Canada destroyed or damaged about 150 structures and forced more than 20,000 people to evacuate last week, officials said Tuesday in the first detailed accounting of the blaze.

A week later, about 2,200 people remain displaced under evacuation orders, and roughly 25,000 are still on alert across British Columbia, Emergency Management Minister Kelly Greene said. Improving conditions have allowed most residents of the hard-hit community of Summerland to begin returning home.

On Tuesday, evacuation orders for about 3,380 homes were downgraded to alerts, meaning those residents could remain in their homes for now, after about 1,200 orders had already been lifted by late Monday. Crews are clearing dangerous trees and debris and restoring power to about 530 properties still under evacuation orders, including roughly 40 in Summerland, a community of about 12,000 people in the Okanagan region.

Nearby Faulder, home to about 200 people, was among the hardest hit, with many houses reduced to blackened foundations. Summerland Mayor Doug Holmes said the community faces a "long road to recovery" but expressed confidence residents would pull together.

The Bald Range wildfire erupted August 7 and raced toward Summerland and nearby communities so quickly that some crews had to stop fighting the fire to help people escape. British Columbia declared a provincial state of emergency the next day. An 80-year-old woman was killed.

Premier David Eby said last week the speed of the blaze could represent a "new normal" for the province and called for a review of how it prepares for rapidly moving wildfires. Prolonged drought and extremely dry conditions helped fuel the fire.

Graham Statt, chief administrative officer for the District of Summerland, warned the damage count could rise as assessment teams reach more properties. Authorities are contacting affected residents before releasing more detailed information publicly, and some will be offered counseling.

Denise Trudeau, who has lived in Faulder for 36 years, said she and her husband fled with their horses, documents and some clothes as the fire approached. "It was like a tornado coming," she said.

The destruction follows an earlier fire, the Bradley Creek wildfire, which destroyed about 230 homes farther north around Okanagan Lake on August 1. Canada has endured increasingly destructive wildfire seasons in recent years, forcing mass evacuations and sending smoke across large parts of the country and into the United States.