A wildfire that forced more than 20,000 people from their homes in western Canada moved so quickly that crews had to abandon firefighting to help residents escape, a pace British Columbia’s premier said may represent a “new normal”.

The Bald Range wildfire erupted on Friday near Summerland, a community of about 12,000 in British Columbia’s Okanagan region.

By Wednesday, it had grown to about 184 square kilometres after destroying homes and killing an 80-year-old woman.

"There’s an important set of lessons for us to take about how quickly this moved and that this may be our new normal for fire speed," Premier David Eby said on Wednesday.

He said the blaze outpaced wildfire modelling and left some residents with little time to evacuate.

Officials have begun damage assessments, but the area remained unsafe and there was no timeline for residents to return.

Crews were clearing vegetation to help slow the fire’s spread as officials warned that thunderstorms could bring erratic winds and increase fire activity.

Highway 97, a major route through the area, remained closed.

Eby visited an evacuation reception center in Penticton, where he said he met people devastated by the loss of their homes.

“A lot of emotions in there, obviously,” he said, calling the woman’s death a “tragic loss.”

Eby said the province would review the response, including whether changes are needed to wildfire planning, building standards and vegetation management near communities.

Given the drought and summer heat, he warned, “this is very unlikely to be the last significant fire we see this summer.”

Canada has endured a series of severe wildfire seasons in recent years, with smoke repeatedly drifting into the United States.

In record-setting 2023, fires burned more than 14.6 million hectares, an area roughly the size of Illinois. (AP)



Edited by Tony Sabine