Charred road to recovery in B.C.’s Okanagan as province extends state of emergency

The BC Hydro website shows an outage affecting 210 customers in an area hard hit by the fire, around the community of Faulder, where dozens of homes were lost.

In Summerland itself, thousands of residents have returned home this week, though regional officials have said they must boil their water. Only 29 properties and the landfill within the municipality remained under evacuation order on Friday, after more downgrades.

Evacuation orders remain in effect for some rural areas, including the community of Faulder, as crews clean up and restore services.

The Bald Range blaze continued to burn out of control, but it was mostly pushing west, away from Summerland on the shores of Okanagan Lake.

Business are starting to reopen, including the Sunflower Ukrainian Cafe, which has been serving limited quantities of borscht, cabbage rolls and other specialties.

But the effects of the fire extend beyond the physical destruction it has wrought, as the many tourism-dependent businesses in the region grapple with the loss of customers in the middle of their high season over the last two weeks.

Tamara Paul and her husband Darcy Balla run Epic Cycling Outdoor Adventures, a bike rental company on the lakeshore in Penticton, B.C. Paul said her phone has only just started ringing again as customers made a few bookings on Friday.

The slowdown has had a “massive” impact during one of their busiest months in the seasonal operation, she said.

“We have between May and October to have, you know, our income to last through the winter,” Paul said in an interview. “Most likely I would say probably a 30 per cent drop for our business as far as losing August.”

Officials had urged tourists to stay away from the region just hours after the fire sent thousands of evacuees searching for accommodations. But as they return home, Paul said the Okanagan is still a great place to visit.

“There’s great food, there’s great wine. Our e-bikes are here, we’re ready, we’re open,” she said. “The restaurants need the business, we all do.”

Still, the B.C. government extended the provincial state of emergency declared on Aug. 8, the day after the Bald Range blaze forced the mass evacuation.

A statement from the Ministry of Emergency Management said the wildfire risk remained elevated, with hot, dry conditions in many regions.

The state of emergency has been extended by seven days until August 29th, the province saying the move followed advice from emergency management officials and ensured the government has access to emergency powers as needed.

The Bald Range fire outside Summerland spans an estimated 240 square kilometres, with the most activity along its western and southern flanks.

Hood said the wildfire service was relocating its incident command post out of Summerland to get closer to areas with active fire, so residents may notice fewer crew members in town, but they continued to battle the blaze.

“As that fire grows further away from town, we can move to an area that allows us to focus in on those areas of concern,” he said in the video.

There were about 125 active wildfires in B.C. on Friday, with about 40 per cent burning out of control, mostly in the southern half of the province.

Wildfires this summer have destroyed hundreds of structures in the south Cariboo region and in the north and south Okanagan.

The massive Pear Lake blaze destroyed structures on more than 100 properties in the Clinton, B.C., area last month, while the Bradley Creek fire swept through Okanagan Indian Band lands on Aug. 1, destroying about 230 homes.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 21, 2026.

Brenna Owen, The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press

Charred road to recovery in B.C.’s Okanagan as province extends state of emergency

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