Councillor says sad stories emerging from fire zone in Clinton, B.C.

CLINTON — A councillor for Clinton, B.C., said Monday that sad stories were emerging from the community where homes and other structures have been destroyed by wildfire.

A photograph provided by the BC Wildfire Service appeared to show most of the village intact on Monday, with smoke still billowing from the fire on the forested slopes surrounding the community, about 350 kilometres northeast of Vancouver.

But Nicholas Kosovic, who also operates the Stagecoach Cafe in Clinton with his mother Maria, said a number of properties had been lost south of the village where the fire behaviour “was quite severe.”

They include Steve’s Towing, whose owner Steve Larabie told The Canadian Press on Saturday that the business and two family homes on the property had been lost.

Kosovic declined to identify others and warned against relying on social media for information.

“I know everyone is speculating. Certainly, I was thinking about what happened to my house. My house was uninsured, so it’s just like if I’m going to lose everything, I’m going to know,” he added.

Kosovic said he had received word Monday morning that “as of last night, my house is still standing.”

The village posted a statement to its Facebook page later Monday saying staff expected to be able to start assessing the damage over the next day or two, and affected property owners would be contacted directly.

The statement also thanked more than 15 members of the Clinton fire department who have stayed behind and worked “tirelessly” to protect the community, it said.

Firefighters had divided the village into quadrants and were conducting continuous patrols to extinguish any spot fires, it said, and structure protection personnel with the BC Wildfire Service also remained in Clinton.

The complex of fires threatening Clinton and surrounding areas continues to burn out of control, with the Pear Lake and Fiftynine Creek blazes merging over the weekend to span more than 630 square kilometres.

Residents of 70 Mile House, B.C., were told to leave their homes on Monday in an expanded evacuation order from the Thompson-Nicola Regional District that now covers about 650 properties on both sides of Highway 97.

That’s in addition to properties in Clinton, where officials issued an evacuation order Friday as flames roared to the outskirts of the community.

Village officials have said most of Clinton’s residential area survived.

The BC Wildfire Service hadn’t posted any photos of the Clinton area since last Thursday, the day before the wildfire surged, but on Monday it shared several.

One of the latest photos, dated Monday, showed residential areas in the village itself appeared intact, although the whole community wasn’t visible.

Firefighters and structure protection personnel remained in the village on Monday, the BC Wildfire Service said in an update posted online.

It said a guard had been established at the southeast corner of Clinton, while crews were working on another barrier between the village and the fire’s edge.

“Heavy equipment resources will begin developing containment lines farther out from the fire in order to get ahead of the rapid fire growth and behaviour that we are seeing,” the service said.

The Thompson-Nicola Regional District issued an evacuation order for two properties later Monday due to another blaze, the Rim Lake wildfire, burning to the east of the combined Pear Lake and Fiftynine Creek blaze.

The roughly 250-square-kilometre French Bar Creek fire also continues to burn to the northwest.

The blazes are among about 130 wildfires in B.C., with more than 50 burning out of control.

Air-quality warnings due to wildfire smoke remain in effect for much of B.C.’s central and southern Interior as well as the Prince George and Fort St. John areas.

Kosovic, who was in Kamloops with his mother and their cat, said he planned to meet with his best friend, who had lost his home to the flames.

“We’re going to be there for each other and support each other in this critical time,” said Kosovic.

“I think Clinton is quite resilient. It is a strong community,” he added.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 27, 2026.

— By Nono Shen and Brenna Owen in Vancouver

The Canadian Press