British Columbia’s wildfire season appears to be winding down, with more than 60 fires declared out over the last week and no major fires of note remaining as the autumn equinox approaches. Just four blazes are burning out of control out of a total of about 115 across the province, though the BC Wildfire Service says severe drought is still a concern for the fire risk in parts of the Cariboo region and the southern Interior. This year has seen 1,380 fires scorch about 4,750 square kilometres of land in the province, a marked decrease from totals over the last three years, particularly 2023, when a record 29,000 square kilometres burned. The figure so far this year is also lower than the 10- and 20-year averages. By another measure, though, the season is among the province’s most destructive, with wildfires destroying or damaging more than 500 structures. By comparison, the B.C. government tallied about 600 structures destroyed or damaged in the record-breaking 2023 season, including about 400 homes, while 229 homes were among 509 structures were destroyed in 2017. This year, the Bald Range fire destroyed or damaged about 150 properties in the south Okanagan, in and around Summerland, B.C. There, RCMP have said an 80-year-old woman died suddenly while she was fleeing her home west of Summerland, the only known fatality in the wildfire season this year. At the north end of Okanagan Lake, the Bradley Creek fire destroyed about 230 homes on Okanagan Indian Band lands. The Big Bar complex of fires destroyed about 120 structures outside Clinton, B.C., at the southern edge of the Cariboo region, while the Brunswick complex of fires in and around the Fraser Canyon destroyed seven structures. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2026.
