The wildfire season in British Columbia has been transformed in a flash, with lightning strikes sending the number of blazes burning in the province past 100.
On Wednesday morning, the province’s firefighters faced about 20 blazes in what had been a relatively quiet season. By Saturday morning, there were about 115 fires burning, including roughly 77 that started in the last 24 hours.
Two-thirds of the fires were burning out of control and most new blazes, orders and alerts were concentrated in the southern B.C. Interior.
But Attila Banhegyi remained unfazed after choosing to remain in his house in Boston Bar, B.C., near the Brunswick Creek fire, which was 40 square kilometres in size, and the Ainslie Creek fire, with an area of 160 square kilometres.
The community of around 160 people in B.C.’s Fraser Canyon was ordered to evacuate on Thursday, but Banhegyi said he stayed because he needed to look after his two businesses and animals, including 12 chickens.
He said he is ready to leave on a moment’s notice, adding that his wife and their two children, a 3 1/2-year-old girl, and a 3 1/2-month-old boy, left town the day before the evacuation order.
He said the local restaurant and gas station were still open, as was the motel, which was housing the firefighting crews.
“It depends on the person, but the people who have stayed behind are in good spirits,” he said, noting conditions in his community were “nice and quiet” and he could hear birds chirping.
The BC Wildfire Service has attributed a majority of the new fires to the 4,000 lightning strikes it said hit the province on Wednesday.
Forests Minister Ravi Parmar said the lightning was forecasted earlier this week.
“Over the past 48 hours, we have seen the impact of those conditions,” he said in a statement Saturday.
The minister said the wildfire service deployed more than 770 wildland firefighters as of Friday, and hundreds more were ready to go.
“To the communities dealing with the uncertainty and fear of an active wildfire, we are with you,” he said.
The eruption of fire activity has resulted in a rise in evacuation orders and alerts.
The most recent figures from BC Wildfire Service said about 575 properties across B.C. were subject to evacuation orders, with about 1,740 more on evacuation alert. It said about 399 people were receiving emergency support services.
The Cariboo Regional District triggered an evacuation due to the Bowers Lake fire overnight Friday, as well as an alert for the Lessard Lake fire.
The Thompson-Nicola Regional District on Saturday issued an evacuation order for two properties because of the French Bar Creek Wildfire. On Friday, the same regional district ordered the evacuation of 131 properties near Big Bar Lake and Meadow Lake due to the Fiftynine Creek fire.
Jim Smith, who represents the area threatened by Fiftynine Creek at the regional district, said the fire grew very quickly.
It was only detected on Friday, but was soon listed at about 40 square kilometres.
“The wind is the enemy, and yesterday, the wind was howling basically through the South Cariboo,” Smith said in an interview Saturday.
“It wasn’t long in between the (evacuation) alert and the order,” he said. “The fire just roared right up to Big Bar Lake. So we are expecting that there is going to be structural loss, but we are not sure at this time.”
Smith said most of the evacuated properties are on the northern side of the lake, with a few ranches and farms in the area.
“There is a fair amount of livestock, and I believe they started moving as soon as the alert was on,” Smith said.
An update from the wildfire service on Friday said that as the weather system moved into Alberta, officials anticipated more lightning strikes “and, in the coming days, more fire starts.”
Back in Boston Bar, Banhegyi estimated that somewhere between 40 and 50 per cent of residents remained behind despite the evacuation order.
“We have grown to be self-sufficient in many aspects,” he said. “So we like to exercise self-governance, and sometimes being told what to do in our local area by people who aren’t on the ground doesn’t necessarily align with our own values.”
Banhegyi said his wife would prefer him to join the rest of the family.
“But she trusts me, and knows that I will be safe,” he said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 18, 2026.
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