Charred road to recovery as crews work to restore services in B.C.’s south Okanagan

While the immediate threat of wildfire has subsided for Summerland, B.C., a provincial wildfire official says there is much work ahead on the road to recovery as fire crews relocate their command post out of the community.

Stefan Hood, incoming incident commander for the Bald Range wildfire, says utility and telecommunications crews are working to restore services on the western shores of Okanagan Lake, where the fire forced the evacuation of some 20,000 people as it surged on the night of Aug. 7, destroying about 150 structures.

Hood’s comments come in a video posted by the BC Wildfire Service showing roadways surrounded by charred trees and downed power infrastructure.

The video also shows felled trees lining roadways coated in dirt and ash after the fire rendered them too dangerous to leave standing.

The Bald Range fire spans an estimated 240 square kilometres and is mostly pushing west, away from Summerland on the shores of Okanagan Lake.

Hood says the wildfire service is relocating its incident command post from Summerland to get closer to areas with active fire, so residents may notice fewer crew members in town, but they continue to battle the blaze.

“As that fire grows further away from town, we can move to an area that allows us to focus in on those areas of concern,” he says in the video posted Thursday.

Thousands of Summerland residents returned home this week, though evacuation orders remain in effect for surrounding rural areas.

There are about 125 active wildfires in B.C., with about 40 per cent burning out of control, mostly in the southern half of the province.

Wildfires this summer have destroyed hundreds of structures in the south Cariboo region around Clinton, B.C., and in the north and south Okanagan.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 21, 2026.

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