B.C. wildfire season winding down with lower burned area, but high structural loss

British Columbia’s wildfire season appears to be winding down, with more than 50 fires declared out over the last week and no major fires of note remaining as the autumn equinox approaches.

Just three of about 100 blazes across the province are burning out of control, and the latest update from the BC Wildfire Service removes mention of the severe drought that has plagued parts of the Cariboo region and southern Interior.

Instead, the update issued Thursday says now is a good time for people to undertake work to make their homes more resilient to wildfire.

This year has seen 1,380 fires scorch about 4,750 square kilometres of land in the province, a marked decrease from totals over the last three years, particularly 2023, when a record 29,000 square kilometres burned.

The figure so far this year is also lower than the 10- and 20-year averages.

By another measure, though, the season is among the province’s most destructive, with wildfires destroying or damaging more than 500 structures.

By comparison, the B.C. government tallied about 600 structures destroyed or damaged in the record-breaking 2023 season, including about 400 homes, while 229 homes were among 509 structures were destroyed in 2017.

This year, the Bald Range fire destroyed or damaged about 150 properties in the south Okanagan, in and around Summerland, B.C.

There, RCMP have said an 80-year-old woman died suddenly while she was fleeing her home west of Summerland, the only known fatality in the wildfire season this year.

At the north end of Okanagan Lake, the Bradley Creek fire destroyed about 230 homes on Okanagan Indian Band lands.

The Big Bar complex of fires destroyed about 120 structures outside Clinton, B.C., at the southern edge of the Cariboo region, while the Brunswick complex of fires in and around the Fraser Canyon destroyed seven structures.

The province’s Ministry of Emergency Management did not provide a total number of structures lost or damaged this year, saying local governments and First Nations are the best source for the figures in their areas.

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