‘The fire was just raging’ evacuee describes fleeing Okanagan wildfires

VERNON — Atlyn Becker remembers the hills glowing orange around her on Saturday as her truck edged north to safety from fires burning around British Columbia’s Okanagan Lake.

She and her family were among thousands who fled their homes over the weekend with whatever they could pack, as high winds pushed flames over drought-parched land.

She estimates there were about 200 vehicles moving slowly down the road with her.

“You could feel the heat of the fire. You could hear the crackling of the trees. The fire was just raging,” she said Monday, after safely arriving in Kelowna.

Becker said she watched through the window of her truck as firefighters cut apart fallen trees with chainsaws so that people could drive through.

“(Fire) was right down to the road, all the way up the side of the mountain, and it was actually terrifying because you don’t know if a tree is going to fall on you,” she said.

Multiple evacuation orders and alerts have been issued over the last several days because of fires burning in areas around Okanagan Lake.

Central Okanagan Emergency Management said more than 2,200 properties under its jurisdiction have been evacuated due to the Quilpituk Creek wildfire.

Further up the lake, the Regional District of North Okanagan expanded evacuation orders and alerts on Sunday because of the Bradley Creek wildfire.

Many residents rushed to escape over the weekend as winds gusting up to 115 kilometres per hour fanned the fire, destroying homes as it burned to the water line.

Becker and her family chose to leave their Westshore Estates neighbourhood before they were officially ordered out as the fires burning on either side of them led to the evacuation of other communities, including the Okanagan Indian Band reserve land.

She said she watched planes and crews on the ground do the best they could to fight the flames, but the heavy winds on Saturday were too much.

“We haven’t had any precipitation all the month of July. It sprinkles, but that’s it. No downpours, nothing to really get things, you know, a little bit saturated,” she said.

Cliff Chapman, director of wildfire operations for the provincial wildfire service, said in an update on Sunday that they had never seen such wildfire conditions before.

B.C. Wildfire Service information officer Nicole Bonnett said Monday that the Bradley Creek wildfire saw no significant growth overnight, while the Quilpituk Creek fire measured over five square kilometres.

Sitting outside the emergency services centre in Vernon, where evacuees could get food, water and register for government support, Gord Ross described watching flames spread on Friday from his home near the lake.

“I could see it from my back deck and follow the whole thing and it was really quite amazing how fast it travelled,” he said, noting he was fortunate he and his wife have a friend to stay with in the city.

Ross said the Okanagan Indian Band lost several homes to a fire in 2021 and appears to have been hit worse this time.

“From where we were sitting, we could see propane tanks exploding and the black smoke. You know it’s a house going up and not just the grass fire or a treed area,” he said.

Dan Wilson, the Chief of the Okanagan Indian Band, said they don’t know the full extent of the wildfire’s destruction on their homes and infrastructure, and he couldn’t say when residents will be allowed back.

“The fire is still active. Firefighters are still working in areas that remain dangerous. There are places where crews still can’t safely get in,” he said in a video posted on Facebook on Sunday.

Burt Bazley is staying in his travel trailer in a parking lot in Vernon since he evacuated from his home on band land on Saturday.

After being evacuated twice in 2021, Bazley said he had a better sense of what to expect this time.

“This one this year was a little bit quicker. The one in 2021 was a couple days where we had time to really figure out what we’re doing. This one was the fire started early in the morning, and we were put on evacuation order that night,” he said.

Bazley said he watched homes burn before he left. After checking cameras on his property, he’s hopeful his house has survived.

“The fire was probably, I’m going to say, less than 100 yards from our place,” he said.

Wilson noted in his Facebook post there are damaged power lines, unsafe trees, damaged infrastructure and water systems that still have to be looked at, before people could be allowed back in.

Forests Minister Ravi Parmar said in statement that 100 workers from Mexico arrived in B.C. on Monday and 200 more were expected later in the week to help the province battle the wildfires.

“They’ve travelled from their homes to help us protect ours amid a challenging wildfire season. As British Columbians, let’s welcome them warmly as they prepare to work alongside our BC Wildfire Service crews,” he said.

Videos posted online show some properties on the shore of Lake Okanagan have been destroyed.

Becker, who fled the Westshore Estates neighbourhood, said she plans to drive to Vernon, where she can use binoculars to look across the lake to try and see if her home is still standing.

A retiree, Becker said losing her home would be devastating, in part because she also uses it as an Airbnb business in the summer months.

“I’m retired, and my partner’s retired, and just the thought of not having that income, it’s really scary,” she said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 3, 2026.

Darryl Greer and Ashley Joannou, The Canadian Press