Evacuations expand south on Okanagan Lake, as more Mexican fire crews arrive in B.C.

The blaze spans just over seven square kilometres.

Central Okanagan Search and Rescue said Thursday that its members helped evacuate homes on Westside Road with RCMP and Penticton Search and Rescue.

Premier David Eby was in Abbotsford, B.C., to welcome firefighters arriving from Mexico on Thursday and said stories of “heroism and mutual support” were arising from wildfire battles across the province.

“There are literally thousands of people across the province that are stepping up to help out those who are evacuated … and those who are facing the threat of forest fire,” he told a news conference at the Abbotsford airport.

Among the evacuees is Reilly Hogarth, who said he and his neighbours tried fighting the Bradley Creek fire as flames moved toward his and other homes on the Okanagan Indian Band reserve.

Hogarth said they did their best to soak down structures and trailers using a long firehose fed by a pump from the lake, but the winds were strong and the flames came within about six metres from the back of his home.

“There was very little we could do,” he said. “So, we mostly just spent our time trying to contain the fire to what had already burned and keep it from jumping through the neighbourhood and burning more structures.”

Hogarth’s neighbour snapped a photograph of him with a firehose over his shoulder, pulling it through the charred ruins of the trailer park. He said in that moment they were “trying to save as much of our neighbourhood as we could” while also trying to keep themselves out of danger.

Hogarth has been staying with family in nearby West Kelowna, and was hoping to be able to go home soon.

Eby said the 200 Mexican firefighters who arrived in B.C. on Thursday for a 14-day deployment were part of a group of 600 coming to help from other parts of Canada and the world.

He said the Mexican crews would likely be assigned to the Brunswick complex of fires in the Fraser Canyon, where some residents remain on evacuation order, while others have been allowed to return home after more than a month away.

“They will provide much-needed support and relief for our frontline wildfire fighters to be able to recover and then return to the front line to continue their important work after the temporary crews go home,” the premier said.

A Facebook post by the New South Wales rural fire service said several dozen crew members from Australia and New Zealand had also departed for Canada for a five-week deployment.

Eby said the out-of-province crews allow members of the BC Wildfire Service to catch their breath from the “very demanding, hot, exhausting and quite dirty job” of protecting B.C. residents and communities.

Given the extra support, Eby said the wildfire service has indicated it has sufficient resources for the time being.

“That key question of, do we need additional resources, was answered for me quite firmly by the wildfire service (saying) ‘Look, if we had double the number of wildfire fighters in the early days up at the Big Bar fire, it wouldn’t have made a difference,” he said of the blazes that have caused extensive destruction in the Clinton area.

Still, he said he expected the province would continue to expand its wildfire service to respond to what Eby described as “growing threats.”

B.C.’s wildfire fight also reached Metro Vancouver this week, where an evacuation alert was briefly issued for a few dozen properties in the Anmore area, about 40 kilometres east of Vancouver, after a blaze was spotted Wednesday.

But the 1.5-hectare fire burning in Belcarra Regional Park was declared held on Thursday by Brant Arnold-Smith, incident commander with Metro Vancouver.

He told a briefing that fire crews encountered downed power lines at the scene of the first substantial blaze in Metro Vancouver this wildfire season.

The fire is thought to have been caused by human activity.

Evacuees in the Fraser Canyon were meanwhile returning home after several weeks, with the downgrading of evacuation orders in and around Boston Bar.

Still, an update from the Fraser Valley Regional District said residents must stay ready to leave as the Brunswick Creek and Ainslie Creek wildfires, spanning more than 480 square kilometres, continue to burn out of control.

A large sign reading “Welcome Home!” in capital letters greeted returning residents, a message from the local fire department. Photos posted to social media showed a red fire truck parked beside the sign on the highway, surrounded by smoky skies.

A boil-water advisory remained in place, with the district saying people returning home should bring plenty of food and bottled water along with cleaning supplies, a first aid kit and a camera to document any damage at their properties.

Patricia Ross, board chair for the Fraser Valley Regional District, said there was a lot of work ahead for returning residents, but it was “a step in the right direction.”

Ross said district officials made the decision to downgrade the evacuation orders based on a recommendation by the BC Wildfire Service.

“They’ve done a good assessment of the area, they’re confident that it is safe enough for people … that they can go home, at least for now,” she said.

“We’re really crossing our fingers and hopeful that it stays that way, so that they can stay home, and the weather doesn’t give us some trouble.”

Residents may also face a circuitous route home, as Highway 1 is closed between Yale and Boston Bar, while the district said Highway 8 between Merritt and Spences Bridge should be avoided due to wildfire evacuations in the area.

Evacuation orders remain in effect in the Hell’s Gate and Spuzzum areas.

To the north, officials revealed the scope of destruction outside Clinton, B.C., saying on Wednesday that about 120 properties suffered structural losses when the Pear Lake blaze surged on July 24. It has since grown to span more than 1,260 square kilometres.

In the East Kootenay region, all of the evacuation orders and alerts related to the Wait Creek fire burning east of Kimberley, B.C., have been rescinded.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 6, 2026.

— With files from Darryl Greer

Brenna Owen, The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press

Evacuations expand south on Okanagan Lake, as more Mexican fire crews arrive in B.C.

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