VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — About 150 structures were destroyed or damaged by a fast-moving wildfire in western Canada that forced more than 20,000 people to evacuate last week, officials said Tuesday in the first detailed accounting of the toll.
About 2,200 people remained under evacuation orders and roughly 25,000 were on alert across British Columbia, Emergency Management Minister Kelly Greene said. Improving conditions allowed most residents of hard-hit Summerland to begin returning home.
The Bald Range wildfire erupted Aug. 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 British Columbia and called for a review of how it prepares for rapidly moving wildfires. Prolonged drought and extremely dry conditions helped fuel the fire.
About 40 of the affected structures are in Summerland, a community of about 12,000 in British Columbia’s Okanagan region. The rest are in surrounding communities, including Faulder, where some homes were reduced to blackened foundations.
Graham Statt, chief administrative officer for the District of Summerland, warned that the number could rise as assessment teams reach more properties. Authorities were contacting residents whose homes were affected before releasing more detailed information publicly. Some will be offered counseling.
Summerland was evacuated along with thousands of residents in and around nearby Peachland.
The destruction after about 230 homes were destroyed farther north around Okanagan Lake by the Bradley Creek wildfire, which tore through the area on Aug. 1.
Canada has endured increasingly destructive wildfire seasons in recent years, forcing mass evacuations and repeatedly sending smoke across large parts of the country and into the neighboring United States.
