What you need to know about B.C. wildfires on Aug. 9
A severe wildfire in British Columbia has forced thousands of evacuations and is displaying extreme, volatile behavior. Officials are struggling to contain the blaze, which has already resulted in lost homes and a potential fatality.
Why it matters
The increasing frequency and intensity of wildfires represent a major environmental and public safety crisis.
About 12,000 people from Summerland and thousands more from the surrounding area remain evacuated from their homes on Sunday due to the Bald Range fire, while evacuation alerts stretch south to the edge of Penticton and north through Peachland to Highway 97C.
In a Sunday update just after 9:30 a.m. PT, the B.C. Wildfire Service said the wildfire is displaying extreme Rank 5 and 6 behaviour — the latter being the highest rank a wildfire can reach.
Crews observed rapid rates of spread and embers carried one kilometre ahead of the main fire, starting spot fires.
"Fire behaviour at this intensity is extremely volatile and aggressive, which makes direct attack unsafe for ground crews," the service said on Sunday.
The Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen expanded an evacuation order for the fire to properties in the Brent Lake and Shingle Creek area south of Summerland on Sunday morning.
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