RCMP have confirmed a fatality in the explosive wildfire that forced mass evacuations from Summerland, B.C., over the weekend.
The Bald Range wildfire broke out shortly after 5 p.m. PT on Friday about 15 kilometres from the city, and grew rapidly, forcing tactical evacuations — some involving firefighting helicopters.
Penticton RCMP said Sunday it had confirmed at least one person died as a result of the fire.
“An 80-year-old Meadow Valley resident was attempting to leave her home, along with one member of her family, due to the wildfires when she reportedly died suddenly,” RCMP said in a media release.
“Police believe her death to be a result of the wildfire.”
Police said the B.C. Coroners Service was investigating, and that there were no other known fatalities related to the fire.
As of Sunday, the fire had grown to 136 square kilometers in size. About 12,000 residents, along with people in surrounding areas including southern Peachland remain under evacuation orders.
The remainder of Peachland and areas south of Summerland and west of Penticton are on evacuation alerts. The Penticton Indian Band has also declared a state of emergency.
Smoke from the fire has led to multiple flight cancellations at the Kelowna airport.
Interior Health said it helped transport more than 200 residents out of Summerland and into safe locations, and has set up a hotline for families looking to reunite with loved ones.
Downtown Summerland spared
A city official said Sunday that Summerland’s downtown has survived the fire intact.
“I was in downtown Summerland myself yesterday as late as 2 a.m. [PT] and everything is fine,” Summerland Chief Administrative Officer Graham Statt told a Regional District of Okangan-Similkameen livestream on Sunday.
“There is active fires around the community still that are being dealt with and there are some hotspots and stuff … but downtown Summerland hasn’t been destroyed, anything like that.”
Summerland Mayor Doug Holmes, however, said there were losses in the area.
“We know structures have been lost. We don’t know how many,” Holmes said.
Holmes added there was no timeline for residents to return, adding that power lines are down and water supplies are likely contaminated.
“Until we know all of that infrastructure is safe, we can’t really let people back,” he said.
“We will be leaning on the province for support to make sure that everything is safe for people to get back and return to their homes,” he said.
Statt said planning is underway for a phased re-entry.
Some groups, like those who work with livestock, have been allowed temporary access to care for animals, he said.
‘Gut wrenching’
Leah Gibbs, who lives at the base of Bald Range above Summerland, said she knew it was time to evacuate when she saw a helicopter refill water from her family’s property.
“When we drove out, we could see the horses running around into the flames and into the smoke,” she said.
“It was gut wrenching,” she added. “Not knowing whether they would live or die and not knowing if you would have a house to go home to.”
Many residents are now sheltering in Penticton, which has set up a resource hub for evacuees. Due to limited accommodations, evacuees are being urged to stay with friends or family if possible.
Not everyone wanted to flee.
Jim Ure has been a Summerland resident for the past 34 years.
“[I] don’t want to see it go away. Hence I might stay,” he explained. “My wife said she wants to go.”
Provincial and local emergency officials have urged everyone to obey evacuation orders, and say defying them puts lives at risk.
Firefight far from over
Much of the province’s southern Interior is currently listed at the federal government‘s highest level of drought intensity.
“It is very drought driven. There’s a lot of drought in the Okanagan right now,” said Nicole Bonnett, BCWS incident commander on the Bald Range fire.
Bonnett said overnight relief wasn’t as strong as anticipated due to a lack of moisture. The service said in its Sunday update that if skies clear, “fire behaviour will increase significantly” due to increasing winds throughout the day.
The wildfire service said its focus on Sunday was limiting fire growth in the drainage between Fish Lake and Garnet Valley, and that fire growth to the south remains a concern.
Across B.C., there are roughly 13,200 properties on evacuation order and another 5,800 under evacuation alert – affecting approximately 21,700 and 10,600 people respectively.
