The majority of Summerland residents are able to return home after an evacuation order was lifted, but it’s still unclear how many homes may have been lost to the Bald Range wildfire.
An evacuation order was downgraded to an alert for over 3,000 properties in Summerland, as the city conducts phased re-entry for residents. Evacuation orders remain in place for some neighbouring areas.
“Different areas and different neighbourhoods will be allowed to return at different times,” said Emergency Management and Climate Readiness Minister Kelly Greene during an update on Tuesday.
“It will depend on risk and damage assessments and the work that needs to be done before people can safely return,” said Greene.
Greene didn’t share how many homes may have been lost, saying regional officials are contacting affected homeowners directly.
She said roughly 2,200 people remained under evacuation order due to wildfires in the province and 25,000 were on alert.
“For any British Columbian who hasn’t been impacted by fires this season, we still have many weeks to go,” said Forests Minister Ravi Parmar. “Be prepared, stay informed and be resilient.”
“The Bald Range fire was a prime example of the intensity of the fires that we’re seeing here in British Columbia,” he said.
The fire was detected on Aug. 7 and quickly exploded in size, prompting Summerland residents to flee overnight on short notice. The fire also led to the death of an 80-year-old woman as she was attempting to evacuate her home.
The Bald Range wildfire has burned about 220 square kilometres and is one of four major wildfires in southern B.C.
The Pear Lake wildfire in the south Cariboo region has burned more than 1,600 square kilometres.
The two major fires making up the Brunswick Creek fire complex in the Fraser Canyon have also burned close to 750 square kilometres in total.
The B.C. Wildfire Service said there were close to 130 wildfires in the province as of Tuesday afternoon, with 12 started in the past 24-hours.
Yellow and orange air quality alerts for wildfire smoke remained in place across most of the southern Interior and the Fraser Canyon on Tuesday.
B.C.’s provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said for most people the effects of wildfire smoke are only temporary, but older adults, children, pregnant people and people with health conditions are more at risk of serious health impacts. She said people in smoky areas should try to spend time in spaces with clean, filtered air.
The Canadian Red Cross is also offering free N95 respirator masks through a partnership with the federal government.
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