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 are 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 wildfire conditions like this before. The prolonged drought in the region and the strong winds in the area helped the fires spread. 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 now measures about 550 hectares. 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. 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 can’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. Wilson said 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. “I also know many of you are seeing images, videos and reports shared on social media and in the news. Some of what you are seeing is upsetting, some of it raises more questions than answers. We understand that, we are working to confirm information as quickly as we can and share it with our community as soon as it’s verified.” Becker’s property is now covered under an evacuation order. She 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. She said she’s visited an emergency services centre set up for evacuees and heard multiple people talking about properties being lost. Videos posted online show some properties on the shoreline of the lake have been destroyed, Becker, who is retired, 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.
