PENTICTON — Dawn Wertz says she was celebrating her niece’s 21st birthday at a party in Summerland in the British Columbia Interior when ashes the size of loonies began raining down at her sister’s home. She and her relatives are now among thousands of evacuees from a wildfire that roared toward communities on the western side of Okanagan Lake, consuming homes in its wake. The Bald Range fire exploded in size to more than 100 square kilometres by Saturday afternoon, but it has since shown little growth. That’s a reflection of geography since much of the fire front has reached the lake, as well as the efforts of BC Wildfire Service crews, who were working on containment lines and protecting homes on the outskirts of Summerland, population 12,000. RCMP say they are working to confirm a report that one person died in the fire west of Summerland, while the B.C. government says there has been “significant structure loss” and declared a provincial state of emergency on Saturday. Wertz, who is from Summerland but now lives in Red Deer, Alta., says her relatives watched plumes of flame as the fire raced down a mountain late Friday, before grabbing pictures off the walls and important documents and fleeing south for Penticton. “The ashes were falling on us when we were outside for the party. They were loonie-sized, and that was when it was only 50 hectares,” she said of the fire, around 7:15 p.m. Friday. The exact scale of the destruction is unclear, but a perimeter map put out by the BC Wildfire Service on Saturday suggested the fire rolled over numerous homes on its way to the waterline north of Summerland, and social media videos showed multiple homes ablaze as residents fled, fire on both sides of the road. The Interior Wildlife Rehabilitation Society said the fire swept through their facility in Summerland so fast, they were only able to escape with their own pets and the animals in their care. The post added that they watched on the security cameras as the flames engulfed the entire compound, before the power went out and everything went black. Within a few hours of being detected at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, the fire had exploded to measure 50 square kilometres before swiftly doubling in size again as it closed the 15-kilometre distance from its point of ignition to Summerland. Cliff Chapman, the director of wildfire operations with the BC Wildfire Service, said in a briefing Saturday that the fire was a “nightmare” and one of the most challenging the service had ever faced. About 10,000 homes are now under evacuation orders in Summerland, Peachland, the regional districts of Okanagan-Similkameen and Central Okanagan, and the Penticton Indian Band lands. More than 3,200 homes are under evacuation alerts that stretch north past Peachland to Highway 97C, and south past Penticton on its western outskirts. Authorities said firefighting helicopters were diverted to rescue more than 50 residents trapped by the flames. Summerland resident Anette Boulet said Saturday at the Penticton evacuation centre that the fire “looked like doomsday” as it bore down. She said she and her family escaped around 4:30 a.m. Saturday, their house shrouded in smoke. “You couldn’t see barely. It was, it was just dark, and the ridge, the ridge of fire just coming towards you,” she said, her voice quaking. “There’s no words to express it. The fear.” The BC Wildfire Service says the cause of the fire is under investigation. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 9, 2026. Brenna Owen, The Canadian Press
