Wildfires shut down B.C. wineries’ peak tourism season, leaving financial strain

“The rest of August will probably be a wash, and then with the provincial evacuation order and the state of emergency, I don’t think there’s any tourism that’s going to come now. Certainly not while the fires are still burning,” he added.

Another winery owner in Summerland, Ron Kubek, said he was also given temporary access to his property after nearly a week of being away.

Kubek said he felt incredibly lucky seeing his winery and vineyard, called Lightning Rock, still standing, but also sad that others have lost homes, thousands remain displaced and one person in the community died.

As the Okanagan wine community has taken a real hit this week, he encourages people to order a B.C. wine or cider at dinner or order them online.

“It doesn’t have to be Lightning Rock,” said Kubek. “Every bottle, meal and online order helps keep someone working while our community gets back on its feet.”

Many evacuated residents have been allowed to return to their homes near Summerland and West Kelowna after evacuation orders related to the Bald Range and Quilpituk Creek wildfires were downgraded in recent days.

More than 20,000 people across Summerland and Peachland were forced to flee Aug. 7 when the fast-moving blaze flared up overnight and triggered evacuation orders.

RCMP said an 80-year-old woman died suddenly while trying to evacuate her home in Meadow Valley, west of Summerland.

Jeff Guignard, president and CEO of Wine Growers British Columbia, said his association is reaching out directly to affected wineries to ensure that their teams are safe and to offer further support.

“It is far too early to assess impacts to wineries, vineyards, or the 2026 vintage, and we will not speculate while emergency crews and communities are responding,” said Guignard.

Winery owners can apply for temporary access permits through local regional districts or emergency command centers to enter evacuation zones, and these permits allow brief entry to check facilities.

Stohler said the past few days felt like long ones, and it was nerve-wracking to leave his vineyard without any care for so long, unable to do anything. The vineyard needed water, and on top of that, his employee’s home was destroyed by flames.

“He has no home, nothing but literally the shirt on his back and his truck. He was able to get back home and let out some neighboring animals, and then they lost everything,” said Stohler, adding his wife, Gillian, plans to visit him to offer help.

Erin Trainer, deputy mayor and councillor in Summerland, returned to her home in Trout Creek on Saturday morning and said most of the town is still under evacuation as the fire is still “very much active.”

Trainer said the town was still blanketed in smoke and she spent her Saturday cleaning up the ashes on her property.

There are more than 120 fires burning in the province with 39 per cent of them classified as out of control.

The BC Wildfire Service said temperatures are expected to slightly rise across central and southern regions, while northwest areas will see a slight dip in temperatures.

It said wildfire smoke was expected to gradually move back into central areas of the province over the weekend, which it notes could help moderate fire behaviour by reducing the amount of radiant heat reaching the landscape.

Stohler said farmers are usually tough people who have lots of grit and are used to “getting beaten up” by nature, but the past few years have been fraught with challenges.

Stohler said they had a frost in 2023, knocking down most of the vineyards in the Okanagan Valley, and in 2024, they faced a freeze event, leaving all vineyards dead.

“I would love to just have sort of a normal kind of year without any drama, without any evacuation, without any fire, without any flood, without any freeze, that would be really nice.

“But I know I’m dreaming,” laughed Stohler, adding that he is getting both his “fingers and toes” crossed every day to pray for a good year.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 16, 2026.

–By Nono Shen in Vancouver

The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press

Wildfires shut down B.C. wineries’ peak tourism season, leaving financial strain

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