Most residents of Summerland, B.C., are now able to return home after being chased out by a fast-moving wildfire about 10 days ago, but Mayor Doug Holmes says his community faces a “long road to recovery.”

Holmes says he’s confident residents will support each other, even as they count the cost of the Bald Range fire that regional officials say damaged or destroyed 150 structures.

“It’s going to be tough, but I know we’re going to get through this the same way that we got through the evacuation,” he said in a video posted online on Tuesday.

“We’re going to help each other. We’re going to be kind and just pull together as you know Summerlanders do.”

In the first official tally of the destruction, Graham Statt, chief administrative officer for the District of Summerland, said 40 structures were damaged or lost in Summerland itself, and more than 100 more in the outlying Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen.

The small community of Faulder to the west of Summerland was virtually wiped off the map, and one woman died in Meadow Valley during the evacuation on the night of Aug. 7.

Holmes said what people come home to will look different depending on where they live.

“Some neighbourhoods will look exactly the same as when they left. Other neighbourhoods, you’re going to see that some of your neighbours have lost homes,” he said.

“In some places you’re going to see the fire has come right up into your backyard and your house was saved by our firefighters (who) were absolutely heroic.”

Most of the 12,000 or so residents are now cleared to return to their homes, after the lifting of on Tuesday more than 10 days after they were chased out by one of the fastest-moving wildfires the province has ever seen.

Evacuation orders covering 3,380 homes were replaced with evacuation alerts warning residents to remain ready to leave at short notice on Tuesday morning, adding to about 1,200 evacuation orders that had already come down by late Monday.

About 530 properties are still under evacuation order as crews work to clear dangerous trees, remove debris and restore power to some areas, the mayor said.

Statt told a district livestream that 150 structures burned is a preliminary number and damage assessments typically increase over time.

“Everyone we can get a hold of, or has contacted us back, we’ve had conversations with. We have counselling available for those individuals,” he said.

“We go on-site with them if they wish to do so, and if they don’t wish to do so, we offer photographs or other things for their use.”

Denise Trudeau and her family spent the last 36 years creating a home in Faulder. They are among those with little left to return to.

She said the property started out as an affectionately described “dumpy” trailer to live in, and a shed for horses’ tack, but it grew to include a riding ring and then a home with a deck where decades of memories were made.

Trudeau said she’s seen photos and videos that tell her what they have built is gone.

“I did see videos of people driving by our property and I did see pictures and it’s pretty much confirmed in my mind … it’s like the house just went into a puff of smoke and the barn, everything. It’s gone,” she said in an interview on Tuesday.

Faulder was one of the first communities forced to leave as the fire roared toward Okanagan Lake on Aug. 7, fuelled by tinder-dry conditions.

It sprinted the 15 kilometres to the lake in a few hours, sweeping over dozens of homes in Meadow Valley and Faulder, leaving little but blackened foundations.

Trudeau said her property was still under an evacuation order and it’s unknown when she would be able to return.

She said she and her husband left in a panic with some clothes and important documents as the fire got closer, and they were able to safely evacuate their horses.

“It was so fast. It was like a tornado coming. It just — you wouldn’t have believed how fast that came,” she said.

Faulder is a community of about 200 residents and Trudeau said the self-reliant group is doing what it can to support each other even if they can’t be together yet.

Online groups provide the chance to connect and tell their neighbours that they are safe, she said.

“So, we’ve checked in on each other,” Trudeau said. “We’re not in a position really to help each other financially, but we’re at least able to connect on Facebook and we will of course connect physically once we’re allowed to be out there.”

Emergency Management Minister Kelly Greene said at a wildfire update on Tuesday that about 2,100 properties remain on evacuation orders across B.C.

Statt said the decision on when to lift orders was made based on factors, including whether utilities are ready, if there are dangerous trees in the way, or if there are concerns about slope stability.

Erick Thompson, a spokesperson for the regional district, said during the livestream that there are also stories of firefighters being able to protect some homes.

“What I saw in Summerland, in particular, was I saw homes where the hills around it were blackened, but the homes were there, and they were blackened because the fire was coming down, and the firefighters saved those structures,” he said.

“That’s an incredible, incredible story.”

Provincial health officer Bonnie Henry said at Tuesday’s provincial briefing that wildfire smoke “now has become part of our summer here in B.C.,” outlining its ill health effects.

“For some people, young people I’ve talked to, it’s almost like dreading summer, which is really sad,” she said. “It’s something that we as a society need to think about in terms of these are man-made climate change effects.”

Henry said so-called “climate anxiety” was one of the leading reasons that young people reach out for mental health help.

Statt, meanwhile, said on-site counselling would be made available to residents who had lost their homes.

Trudeau said she had every intention of rebuilding once she was allowed to return.

She rebuffed others’ suggestions she may have to leave the community.

“It’s just not ever going to happen for me and my husband.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 18, 2026.

— With files by Darryl Greer