PENTICTON — Brian Callow wanted to stay at his property outside Summerland, B.C., to protect his home and mushroom farm from an oncoming inferno that exploded late Friday.

But it became unsafe, with embers from the Bald Range wildfire flying, and he needed to get his dog out after his wife and two young children had already fled.

Callow’s home would be spared, but the fire that has forced 20,000 people out of their homes in British Columbia’s south Okanagan region would destroy “every single building” on the farm itself, he said in an interview on Monday.

“My business partner Thor Clausen, he lost his home, lost his shop,” said Callow, who has been building the business, What The Fungus, for 12 years.

While the losses hadn’t fully sunk in, Callow said the task of rebuilding his farm and others destroyed by the fire would be “too big” for the local community alone, and they would need help from higher levels of government.

What comes next is unclear, even as federal government pledges help for evacuees amid a provincial state of emergency.

Defence Minister David McGuinty said the Canadian Armed Forces were on standby to help manage the wildfire situation that deteriorated rapidly over the weekend.

He said the B.C. government sent a request to Emergency Management Minister Eleanor Olszewski and she approved federal help with shelter and accommodation.

While B.C. had not formally asked for military assistance in the wildfire emergency, McGuinty said Monday that the Canadian Armed Forces were in “direct, constant contact” with federal and provincial officials.

The military was ready the moment it received a formal request to act, the defence minister said, adding the situation was being assessed “hour by hour.”

While the B.C. government has not costed the wildfire fight or what comes next, Forest Minister Ravi Parmar said it would spend what it needs “to respond to wildfires and keep people safe.”

Callow said he wanted to rebuild, “but there’s nothing left and I don’t know how we’re going to do it yet,” he said, noting that clearing rubble would be the first step.

He said he’d been looking into funding through Ottawa’s agricultural recovery program. “If they can assist farms to get back to functioning, we need it.”

RCMP have meanwhile confirmed an 80-year-old woman died while trying to escape the fire as it bore down on her home in Meadow Valley area, west of Summerland.

Prime Minister Mark Carney issued his condolences about the death in a social media statement on Monday, calling the news “heartbreaking.”

“My thoughts are with her family, loved ones, and everyone in her community,” he said.

“Our government will continue to support British Columbia and everyone affected by this summer’s wildfires in the days and weeks ahead.”

The B.C. government issued a ban Monday for off-road vehicles on Crown land in the Kamloops and Southeast fire centres, as well as parts of the Cariboo and Coastal centres, the areas where most of the fires are burning in the province.

“During this period of extreme and unpredictable fire activity, the priority is public and first-responder safety and the prevention of human-caused wildfires,” the province said in a statement.

The ban covers all-terrain vehicles, off-road side-by-sides and motorcycles.

The temporary prohibition does not apply to private lands or national parks, while emergency responders along with agricultural and commercial users are exempt when operating off-road vehicles for emergency, farming or business purposes.

The Bald Range fire continues to burn out of control on the western shores of Okanagan Lake, spanning about 156 square kilometres on Monday, up from an estimated 136 square kilometres the day before.

Clearer conditions were expected Monday, helping with visibility for aerial suppression efforts. But the direct sun could contribute to increased fire behaviour, the BC Wildfire Service said in an update.

Callow recalled a roaring sound and thick, black smoke rolling over his property as the disaster was unfolding overnight Friday.

He said it was very hot and embers were flying, sparking new flames. “It wasn’t even just a case of the fire kind of moving, it was spreading through the air as well.”

Callow said a friend with a farm down the road went to check on his pigs on Sunday and sent pictures confirming the destruction.

About 10,000 homes are under evacuation orders in Summerland, Peachland in the regional districts of Okanagan-Similkameen and Central Okanagan, and on Penticton Indian Band lands.

More than 3,200 homes are subject to lower-level evacuation alerts that stretch north past Peachland to Highway 97C, and south past Penticton along the city’s western outskirts.

In the Cariboo, there was progress on the massive Pear Lake fire, about 10 times the size of the Summerland fire at 1,468 square kilometres.

The wildfire service said the blaze was expected to be less active, with increased humidity, lower temperatures and some rain in the forecast.

The Thompson-Nicola Regional District downgraded evacuation orders for the communities of south Green Lake, 70 Mile House and Hutchinson Lake, moving more than 670 properties to an evacuation alert because of that fire.

But forest fuels continue to drive the flames, the wildfire service said.

“After a week of hot, dry weather, fuels are highly receptive and the fire continues to spread outward wherever there is fuel to carry it.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 10, 2026.

— With files from Brieanna Charlebois and Chuck Chiang in Vancouver and Wolfgang Depner in Victoria