Canada puts the military on standby as British Columbia wildfires kill 1 and displace thousands

Canada put its military on standby Monday to help battle deadly wildfires in British Columbia as a local mayor warned that one of the blazes had wreaked huge destruction on his community. A woman has died and some 20,000 people have fled their homes so far.

For days, scores of wildfires have burned across the province, nearly half of them out of control in hot, windy weather and prolonged drought. Thousands have fled on jammed roads as officials said even more communities could be threatened.

The mayor of Summerland — home to about 12,000 people, which was ordered evacuated on Saturday night along with about 8,000 people in and around nearby Peachland — warned that the affected areas remained too dangerous to enter and that it was impossible to determine the scope of the destruction.

The blaze — known as the Bald Range wildfire — remained out of control after racing toward Summerland and other communities along Okanagan Lake over the weekend.

“It’s going to be quite a bit,” Mayor Doug Holmes said of the expected destruction. “We need to brace ourselves for that bad news when it’s time to go back. Everybody will know somebody who has lost a home.”

Defense Minister David McGuinty said the Canadian Armed Forces were in constant contact with provincial and federal officials and were ready to respond if British Columbia formally requested assistance. The federal government has already approved provincial requests for help with shelter and accommodations.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said an 80-year-old woman died while trying to escape the fire near Summerland. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said the death was heartbreaking and that the federal government would continue supporting British Columbia.

The British Columbia Wildfire Service said Monday the fire had grown to about 156 square kilometers (60 square miles), from 136 square kilometers (53 square miles) on Sunday. Officials warned clearer skies and direct sunlight could increase fire activity.

In Summerland, Peachland and the surrounding areas, about 10,000 homes remained under evacuation orders, while more than 3,200 were under evacuation alerts — meaning they could be told to evacuate at any moment.

Ravi Parmer, British Columbia Minister of Forests, said 19 helicopters were assigned to the Bald Range wildfire but that its intensity made it impossible to halt the blaze.

“We could have put a thousand more helicopters and a thousand more people on the ground, and it wouldn’t have made a difference,” he said.

British Columbia Wildfire Service information officer Nicole Bonnett said the smoke lingering over the Bald Range fire has reduced visibility, limiting the use of air tankers and water-skimming aircraft.

Bonnett said the blaze has been fueled primarily by extremely dry conditions rather than wind, and grew explosively Friday, reaching 50 square kilometers (19 square miles) within three hours.

Holmes, the Summerland mayor, said there was no timetable for when residents would be able to return as power lines had been downed and hazards at the destroyed or damaged buildings would have to be assessed first. He added that residents would eventually return, likely neighborhood by neighborhood.

“The hard part is going home and seeing the devastation,” he cautioned.

Kyla Gaudiuso, a resident of Faulder, a 215-strong community, said her home was likely destroyed as she had gotten a photo showing the ridge where it stood engulfed in flames.

She described the community's evacuation as “pandemonium” and said she was now staying with a friend in the town of Penticton.

“It doesn’t really seem real,” she said. “I have to see it to believe it.”

Canada has endured increasingly destructive wildfire seasons in recent years, forcing mass evacuations and repeatedly sending smoke across large parts of the country and neighboring United States.

Summerland — a farming community that grows cherries, peaches and apples, and also boasts some vineyards — is in a mountainous area where wildfires have been known to break out.

Holmes said the blaze started around 5:30 p.m. on Friday and was within the city limits in just a couple of hours. By midnight, it was so out of control that people were unable to flee on the highway north, so they began evacuating to the south, he said.

“We had to pack up our cars, neighbors were helping neighbors,” he said. “People said they’ve never seen a fire move so fast.”