Wildfire evacuations expand south along B.C.’s Okanagan Lake

The blaze spans just over seven square kilometres, south of the Bradley Creek fire that incinerated neighbourhoods and destroyed at least 230 homes west of Vernon last Saturday.

Central Okanagan Search and Rescue says it helped evacuate homes on Westside Road with RCMP and Penticton Search and Rescue on Thursday morning.

Reilly Hogarth said he and his neighbours tried fighting the Bradley Creek fire last Saturday as flames moved toward his and other homes on the Okanagan Indian Band reserve.

Hogarth said they did their best to soak down structures and trailers using a long firehose fed by a pump from the lake, but the winds were strong and the flames came within about six metres from the back of his home.

“There was very little we could do,” he said.

“So, we mostly just spent our time trying to contain the fire to what had already burned and keep it from jumping through the neighbourhood and burning more structures.”

Hogarth’s neighbour snapped a photograph of him with a firehose over his shoulder amid the charred ruins of the trailer park, and he said in that moment they were “trying to save as much of our neighbourhood as we could” while also trying to keep himself out of danger.

Hogarth is staying with family in nearby West Kelowna, and is hoping to be able to go home soon.

British Columbia’s wildfire fight also reached into Metro Vancouver, where a few dozen properties in the community of Anmore, about 40 kilometres east of Vancouver, were put evacuation alert due to a nearby blaze that was spotted Wednesday.

But the 1.5-hectare fire burning in Belcarra Regional Park was declared held on Thursday by Brant Arnold-Smith, incident commander with Metro Vancouver.

The fire is thought to have been caused by human activity, and Arnold-Smith told a briefing that fire crews encountered downed power lines at the scene of the first substantial blaze in Metro Vancouver this wildfire season.

Evacuees in the Fraser Canyon were meanwhile returning home, with the downgrading of evacuation orders in and around Boston Bar on Wednesday after several weeks of being out of their homes.

Still, the Fraser Valley Regional District says residents must stay ready to leave as the Brunswick Creek and Ainslie Creek wildfires, spanning more than 480 square kilometres, continue to burn out of control.

A large sign reading “Welcome Home!” in capital letters has been greeting residents returning to the area.

Photos posted to social media show a red fire truck parked beside the sign on the highway with smoky skies in the background.

A boil-water advisory remained in place, with the district saying people returning home should bring plenty of food and bottled water along with cleaning supplies, a first aid kit and a camera to document any damage at their properties.

Patricia Ross, board chair for the Fraser Valley Regional District, says there’s a lot of work ahead for returning residents, but “it’s a step in the right direction.”

Ross says district officials made the decision to downgrade the evacuation orders based on a recommendation by the BC Wildfire Service.

“They’ve done a good assessment of the area, they’re confident that it is safe enough for people … that they can go home, at least for now,” she says.

“We’re really crossing our fingers and hopeful that it stays that way, so that they can stay home, and the weather doesn’t give us some trouble.”

Residents may also face a circuitous route home, as Highway 1 is closed between Yale and Boston Bar, while the district says Highway 8 between Merritt and Spences Bridge should be avoided due to wildfire evacuations in the area.

To the north, officials revealed the scope of destruction outside Clinton, B.C., saying on Wednesday that about 120 properties suffered structural losses when the Pear Lake blaze surged on July 24. It has since grown to span more than 1,260 square kilometres.

In the East Kootenay region, all of the evacuation orders and alerts related to the Wait Creek fire burning east of Kimberley, B.C., have been rescinded.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 6, 2026.

— With files from Darryl Greer

Brenna Owen, The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press

Wildfire evacuations expand south along B.C.’s Okanagan Lake

Our Community