British Columbia, Canada: A state of emergency has been declared as the fast-moving Bald Range wildfire forces more than 20,000 people to evacuate their homes, with the blaze more than doubling in size since it was first reported on August 7.
The Bald Range wildfire has spread across more than 103 square kilometres (39 square miles) in the Summerland, Peachland and surrounding areas of British Columbia, according to the BC Wildfire Service.
British Columbia Premier David Eby described the situation as extremely dangerous, saying a fire official had compared the intensity of the blaze to “a bomb going off.” Eby said that the flames had grown so powerful that they were generating their own weather systems and producing lightning.
We've declared a provincewide State of Provincial Emergency as the new, fast-moving Bald Range wildfire forces thousands of people from their homes in the Summerland area.
At every step, we're focused on ensuring that emergency crews have the tools they need to protect people. pic.twitter.com/fV84HEjMDl— David Eby (@Dave_Eby) August 8, 2026
The rapidly changing conditions have already resulted in homes and other properties being destroyed. Eby said some residents were caught in dangerous situations as the fire shifted quickly and had to be rescued.
Declaring a state of emergency gives the provincial government additional powers, including the ability to impose travel restrictions, protect essential supplies from price gouging and mobilise resources for emergency response and rescue operations.
The wildfire has triggered the largest evacuation event in British Columbia this summer, with officials reporting that more than 20,000 people across the province have been forced to leave their homes.
Summerland, which has around 12,000 residents, has been particularly affected. Mayor Doug Holmes stated that the farms had suffered damage and that authorities were still assessing the number of structures lost while firefighters continued battling the flames.
Residents in care facilities, including senior housing in Summerland, were also being moved to safer locations, according to Interior Health. Evacuation orders have been issued in several nearby areas, including Okanagan, Peachland and Okanagan-Similkameen, while additional communities remain under evacuation alerts.
The emergency has also created difficulties for residents trying to protect livestock. In parts of Okanagan, horse owners have struggled to move their animals to safety. Some residents reportedly left gates open so horses could escape danger on their own, while others marked animals to make them easier to identify if they were later separated from their owners.
The Bald Range fire is part of a wider wildfire crisis affecting Canada this summer. Hundreds of fires have burned across the country, with Ontario alone recording nearly 200 wildfires in July. Smoke from Canadian fires has also travelled into parts of the United States, including Minnesota and New York, causing periods of severely degraded air quality.
The scale of the fires has renewed concerns over Canada’s increasingly intense wildfire seasons and the wider impact of smoke and extreme fire conditions across North America.
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