British Columbia wildfire doubles, forces 20,000 to flee

The Story in Brief

British Columbia declared a state of emergency on Saturday as the Bald Range wildfire nearly doubled to 9,500 hectares overnight, forcing more than 20,000 people to evacuate. The blaze threatened communities west of Okanagan Lake, including Summerland and Peachland, and cut off escape routes, with helicopters diverted to rescue trapped residents.

Premier David Eby described the fire as 'like a bomb going off', with flames reaching 200 feet above tree level and creating its own weather system. Summerland lost power and issued a boil-water advisory. Some 1,500 firefighters, including teams from Mexico, Australia, France and New Zealand, are battling over 100 active wildfires across the province. Wildfires have burned about 4 million hectares across Canada this year, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre.