VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — A fast-moving wildfire in western Canada that forced more than 20,000 people to evacuate last week destroyed or damaged about 150 structures, officials said Tuesday in the first detailed accounting of the blaze.
A week later, about 2,200 people are still under evacuation orders and displaced from their homes, and roughly 25,000 remain on alert across British Columbia, Emergency Management Minister Kelly Greene said.
Meanwhile, improving conditions have allowed most residents of the hard-hit community of Summerland to begin returning home.
On Tuesday, evacuation orders for about 3,380 homes were downgraded to alerts — meaning those people could for now remain at their homes — after about 1,200 orders had already been lifted by late Monday.
Crews were clearing dangerous trees and debris and restoring power to some 530 properties that remain under evacuation orders. About 40 of them are in Summerland, a community of about 12,000 residents in British Columbia’s Okanagan region.
Nearby Faulder, a community of about 200 people, was among the hardest hit, with many homes reduced to blackened foundations.
Summerland Mayor Doug Holmes said the community faces a “long road to recovery” but expressed confidence the residents would pull together as they return home and assess the damage.
The Bald Range wildfire erupted on Aug. 7 and raced toward Summerland and nearby communities so quickly that some crews had to stop fighting the fire to help people escape. British Columbia declared a provincial state of emergency the next day. An 80-year-old woman was killed.
The province's Premier David Eby said last week the speed of the blaze could represent a “new normal” for British Columbia and called for a review of how it prepares for rapidly moving wildfires. Prolonged drought and extremely dry conditions helped fuel the fire.
Graham Statt, chief administrative officer for the District of Summerland, warned that the number could rise as assessment teams reach more properties. Authorities were contacting residents whose homes were affected before releasing more detailed information publicly. Some will be offered counseling.
Denise Trudeau, who has lived in Faulder for 36 years, said she and her husband fled with their horses, their documents and some clothes as the fire approached.
“It was like a tornado coming,” she said.
The latest destruction comes after about 230 homes were destroyed farther north around Okanagan Lake by the Bradley Creek wildfire, which tore through the area on Aug. 1.
Canada has endured increasingly destructive wildfire seasons in recent years, forcing mass evacuations and repeatedly sending smoke across large parts of the country and into the neighboring United States.
