Full extent of B.C. wildfire damage still not known, air quality worsens
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Homes have been destroyed and 4,000 properties are on evacuation order in the Shuswap region, as two major fires combined near Adams Lake.
Highway 1 remains closed and evacuation orders are still in place in the Fraser Canyon as a result of the Kookipi Creek wildfire.
A provincewide state of emergency has been declared in British Columbia. Here's what it means.
Non-essential travel to the southern Interior has been restricted as 30,000 people are under evacuation orders.
Many people want to help evacuees. Learn more about how to offer your support.
Learn more about how to find the full list of wildfires, highway closures and evacuation orders and alerts.
Tune in for ongoing coverage of the wildfire situation on CBC Radio One, 88.9 FM in Kelowna, 96.9 FM in Salmon Arm, or by using the CBC Listen app. You can also watch free livestreams on CBC News Network and CBC Gem.
Tens of thousands of British Columbians remain out of their homes and are trying to come to terms with the loss of multiple properties as out-of-control wildfires destroy structures and lead to poor air quality provincewide.
In a Sunday morning news briefing, fire officials noted the fight against devastating wildfires raging around Lake Okanagan, B.C., has turned a corner after days of destruction.
But on Sunday, the Columbia Shuswap Regional District said all evacuation orders and alerts remain in place after the Lower East Adams Lake and the Bush Creek East wildfires merged into one large fire Saturday.
The fires have ravaged the communities of Scotch Creek and Celista on the north shore of Shuswap Lake, a popular tourist destination about 150 kilometres north of Kelowna.
Since Thursday, officials have confirmed the loss of homes and structures in the Kelowna area and parts of the Shuswap, but the full extent of the damage has not been tallied as fires continue to burn through the province's tinder-dry forests, fuelled by wind, drought and hot weather.
West Kelowna fire chief Jason Brolund said Sunday "things are finally looking better," with an army of 500 firefighters engaged in a battle that has entered a new phase.
Brolund said no more homes in West Kelowna had been destroyed by the McDougall Creek wildfire in the past 24 hours and it was possible to begin to "talk about recovery."
WATCH: What to include in your 'grab-and-go' box
Family homes, pets lost
Honey Williams August, of Squilax, near Little Shuswap Lake, lost two cats, an expansive garden, and the home that she and her husband had been building with their own hands, often using reclaimed materials. They don't have insurance.
"Our home was a labour of love and it demonstrated who we are…we had a ceremonial space — we got married there," she said.
Williams August had expected to have plenty of warning if they needed to evacuate, but with the quick-moving fires, that wasn't the case.
"It's going to be hard to go back and see a black earth instead of a green earth. The things we lost are not our lives, but it's two of our cats — I'm hoping if anybody sees Artemis or Boots, pick 'em up."
Spi7uew-Sqalemc, the husband of Honey Williams August, is seen in a family photo standing on the roof of the house in Squilax, B.C., that the couple has been building for more than a decade. They lost their home, near Little Shuswap Lake, to the 2023 summer wildfires. (Supplied Photo)
Smoky skies bulletins have been issued for southern B.C. and air quality advisories are in place in Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. The smoky skies bulletin, issued by the province just before 11 a.m. PT on Sunday, covers the entire southern Interior from the B.C.-Alberta border — including Kamloops, Kelowna, the Okanagan and the Kootenays.
The province is under a state of emergency, and travel to B.C.'s Southern Interior has been restricted, preventing tourists from using hotels, motels, RV parks and other temporary accommodations in Kelowna and West Kelowna, Kamloops, Oliver, Osoyoos, Penticton and Vernon, so they can be utilized for evacuees.
Some evacuation orders have been lifted. The evacuation order covering all properties accessed off Quail Ridge Boulevard in Kelowna, which includes some parts of UBC's Okanagan campus, has been downgraded to an alert.
Provincial officials said Saturday 30,000 people have been told to leave their homes, and a further 36,000 have been told to get ready to leave at a moment's notice.
Highway 1, a major route through the province, is also closed in at least two spots, including between Lytton and Hope, and between Chase and Sorrento.
WATCH: What to include in your 'grab-and-go' box
The province announced Sunday it is providing support — including accommodation, food, and clothing — to evacuees across the province through Emergency Support Services (ESS). Those who require support should follow directions provided by their local authority or First Nation about how to register.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on X, formerly known as Twitter, that he had approved a request from the B.C. government for additional support in managing the situation.
He indicated that military assets and other resources would be deployed to assist with evacuations and other logistical tasks.
Speaking to reporters earlier in the day, Trudeau called the wildfires in B.C. an "extraordinarily serious situation."
Firefighters look ahead to recovery in Kelowna There are more than 10,000 evacuees in the Kelowna region due to the McDougall Creek wildfire, which has destroyed homes in the Central Okanagan.
Kelowna fire chief Travis Whiting said Sunday he was also "very excited" about the advances being made, with his crews optimistic and in good spirits.
He said there had been decreased fire activity, compared to the extreme behaviour of fires in recent days as they tore through neighbourhoods and destroyed homes in both West Kelowna and Kelowna, on either side of the lake.
"It's a day when we can take a deep breath" and focus on strategy, said Whiting.
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Lake Country Fire Chief Darren Lee became emotional as he paid tribute to the firefighters, some of whom had fought to save their own communities from destruction.
"I just want to congratulate all our firefighters. You know, for thousands of years, just regular people step up to to be warriors to protect their villages, protect their neighbours — there's people out there working 36-, 48-hour shifts, and they take an absolute beating," Lee said, choking up.
(Ben Nelms/CBC)
"They know their family's being evacuated while they're trying to defend their neighbour's home and they just keep going."
All evacuees are also asked to register with a provincial portal.
Crews' gear stolen amid Shuswap destruction
Two fast-moving wildfires burned down blocks of homes, stores and buildings in multiple communities in the Shuswap region, according to BCWS.
On Saturday the Lower East Adams Lake and the Bush Creek East wildfires merged into one large fire.
A helicopter drops water onto the McDougall Creek wildfire in West Kelowna, B.C., on Aug. 18, 2023. (Ben Nelms/CBC)
The fire grew about 20 kilometres in 12 hours, which is among the fastest growth B.C. has seen for a wildfire, said B.C. Wildfire Service fire information officer Forrest Tower.
As of Sunday afternoon, the blaze covered an area of 410 square kilometres.
BCWS could not confirm the number of homes or buildings that burned down overnight and said it was still assessing the damage in Celista.
However, in an update on Sunday, Tower said the damage "is quite significant."
"Celista actually was hit worse than Scotch Creek, and the fire essentially ran unsuppressed and unmitigated right through that community," he told CBC News.
Tower said on Sunday that gear belonging to crews was being stolen or moved while responding to the fire, and he urged anyone with firefighting equipment to return it.
"We are doing everything we can on our side, to use our expert knowledge of where those resources would be most effective," he said. "If those are tampered with or removed or stolen, it is really limiting our operations right now in the North Shuswap area."
RELATED: Airspace over Kelowna International Airport closed as crews battle wildfires
In Scotch Creek, the fire department's building was razed by flames, according to Derek Sutherland from the Columbia-Shuswap Regional District.
"They got all their apparatus out and they're operating out of the mobile command centre and they're out there actively fighting fire as we speak," he said on Sunday morning.
Anyone placed under an evacuation order should leave the area immediately.
Evacuation centres have been set up throughout the province to assist anyone evacuating from a community under threat from a wildfire.
To find the centre closest to you, visit the EmergencyInfoBC website.
Evacuees are encouraged to register with Emergency Support Services online, whether or not they access services at an evacuation centre.
WATCH: Wildfires light up hills around Kelowna, B.C. during intense situation
Thumbnail courtesy of Ben Nelms/CBC.
This article was originally written for CBC News. It contains files from With files from Akshay Kulkarni, Tessa Vikander, Michelle Gomez, Andrew Kurjata, The Canadian Press.
