In western Canada, more than 20,000 people were forced to abandon communities along British Columbia<\/a>‘s Okanagan Lake over the weekend. A rapidly advancing wildfire<\/a> has destroyed homes, with dozens requiring aerial rescue.<\/p>\n Anette Boulet was among residents who fled Summerland, a town of about 12,000 people. As she and her family left around 4.30am on Saturday, their home was shrouded in smoke.<\/p>\n \u201cYou couldn\u2019t see barely. It was, it was just dark, and the ridge, the ridge of fire just coming towards you,\u201d said Boulet, who evacuated to a center in Penticton.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no words to express it,” she said. “The fear.\u201d<\/p>\n Besides the evacuations in Summerland, the Bald Range fire, first reported Friday evening, has also led to the evacuation of about 8,000 people in and around nearby Peachland. British Columbia declared a state of emergency Saturday because of the wildfires.<\/p>\n Eleanor Olszewski, Canada\u2019s minister of emergency management and community resilience, said Sunday on social media that she\u2019d approved a request for federal assistance from British Columbia to provide shelter and accommodations for those forced to flee.<\/p>\n In the U.S., residents in some areas north of Spokane, Washington<\/a>, were being advised Sunday to leave their homes. Residents in the rural towns of Malden and Rosalia<\/a>, located about 35 miles (55 kilometers) south of Spokane, saw their evacuation level downgraded Sunday after being urged to leave the previous day after two fires started nearby. The area, though, is on alert.<\/p>\n John Goyke, mayor of Rosalia and the water operator for Malden, said that he saw the trees on the rolling hills burning Sunday morning. He put Malden on a water restriction Saturday night so water could be saved for fire trucks, and Malden\u2019s fire department began trucking water from Rosalia.<\/p>\n \u201cThe wind is fairly calm. The fire is not progressing,\u201d Goyke said, \u201cbut we\u2019re using social media and Facebook<\/a> to keep in contact with everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2020, Malden was was mostly destroyed by a wildfire, losing its fire station, post office, city hall and library. <\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1786345869_160_download...jpeg\")
The Bald Range wildfire burns in Summerland, British Columbia late Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026. (Darryl Dyck\/The Canadian Press via AP) (AP)<\/p>\n![\"People](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1786345869_773_download.-1..jpeg\")
People walk and cycle past an ice cream stand in the shape of a peach as smoke from the Bald Range wildfire envelops Okanagan Lake, in Penticton, British Columbia, on Sunday, Aug. 9, 2026 (AP)<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/download.-2..jpeg\")
A Sikorsky Skycrane maneuvers into position to refill during efforts to fight the Widemouth 2 Fire east of Fillmore, Utah, on Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026, before it crashed on Friday, Aug. 7. (Scott G Winterton\/The Deseret News via AP) (AP)<\/p>\n