Ella Braden, the owner of Braden Hill Orchard & Farm, says she was on vacation when wildfires roared through Summerland, B.C.<\/p>\n
She had to get in touch with friends to close up the farm, who were able to give her flock of chickens and ducks the best chance of survival by leaving lots of water and opening a back door so they could escape if needed. Her friends also shut off the irrigation system, closed windows and evacuated her daughter\u2019s pet rabbit. <\/p>\n
\u201cSince then, we don\u2019t know what\u2019s happening with the farm and I think that is the biggest challenge for most folks in Summerland is that the regional district is valuing human life and safety as they absolutely should, but it\u2019s so hard not to know,\u201d Braden said in an interview.<\/p>\n
A thick layer of smoke settled over the nearby city of Penticton, drifting south from Summerland, where the Bald Range fire forced thousands to flee last weekend. The fires are hurting crops and bottom lines for farms, wineries and other growers in the area. <\/p>\n
About 100 fires are burning across B.C., with about half of them out of control. The Bald Range wildfire, which erupted Friday, has since grown to 184 square kilometres. <\/p>\n
Since the evacuation on Friday, Braden said she was contacted by an animal welfare organization that had a temporary access permit to check on the chickens and ducks. At that time, the flock remained unharmed and the property undamaged, but the same can\u2019t be said for the crops. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe will lose a lot of our annual crops since we are not able to be irrigating right now,\u201d Braden said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe perennial crops will likely be OK, but the psychological challenge of knowing that things were not taken out in the fire, but are going to die slowly because we can\u2019t be caring for our land is very hard.\u201d <\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/NDHOA4PVASYOFFGEGBBRSB5AVI.jpg\")
A smoky sunset over apple trees is pictured in this undated handout photo at Braden Hill Orchard and Farm in Summerland, B.C. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Handout \u2014 Ella Braden (Mandatory Credit) A smoky sunset over apple trees is pictured in this undated handout photo at Braden Hill Orchard and Farm in Summerland, B.C. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Handout \u2014 Ella Braden (Mandatory Credit) <\/p>\n
Perennials are those that don\u2019t need to be replanted each year and can produce a yield for a longer period of time. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sure a lot of things will be withered and dry when I get back,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
Braden and her family are now staying with her parents south of the border in Washington State. <\/p>\n
She estimates that half of her annual income comes from fruit sales between the second half of August and October. The fire is certain to weigh on her farm\u2019s bottom line, but the full financial impact is not yet clear. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere will be crops that I won\u2019t be able to get into storage, I don\u2019t know how much, but it could be up to half of my income because I\u2019m not getting the winter crops that are another quarter of my income or so tended and watered, and I bet my carrot and beet crops are feeding the pocket gophers really well right now,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
As a result of the fire, Braden has had to indefinitely lay off a part-time employee. <\/p>\n
With instances of wildfires becoming more common in recent years, Braden said she had already started to shift to more perennial crops, like rhubarb, asparagus, grapes and berries, which are \u201ccrops that even if I cannot access the property and irrigate, they\u2019re going to be OK next year.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll lose this year\u2019s crop, but they\u2019ll be fine next year,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
B.C. Agriculture Minister Lana Popham told a briefing Tuesday that the situation was urgent for fruit and wine growers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe smoke is affecting the crops for sure, and soot,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight now it\u2019s peach season in the Okanagan and the farmers who have worked all year to bring that harvest are now being kept away from their orchards \u2026 they are right now just heartbroken to see their crops rotting in the orchards.\u201d <\/p>\n
Popham said there were 269 registered agricultural premises that were affected by wildfire activity.<\/p>\n
Mike Dickinson, an operator of Dickinson Family Farms located in Summerland, B.C., said his father Dwane has had the property for about 60 years, which had never been affected by wildfires before. <\/p>\n
He said that when he first became aware of the wildfires, they were \u201cquite a ways away,\u201d and he wasn\u2019t worried.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen a few hours later, I could see it coming over the hill; that\u2019s when I really got concerned,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Dickinson said he decided to pack some of his belongings, and leave Friday night. He drove to Penticton and spent the night sleeping in a Canadian Tire parking lot. He said he was able to temporarily return to the property on Saturday and estimated the fire came within 500 meters of it. <\/p>\n
Since his farm is a cherry orchard, and the harvest season has finished, Dickinson said his farm escaped any significant financial impacts. <\/p>\n
As for Braden, she doesn\u2019t doubt wildfires will continue to be an issue. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere will be more wildfires in the future; they will be bigger, they will be more intense,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 12, 2026.<\/p>\n
Daniel Johnson, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ella Braden, the owner of Braden Hill Orchard & Farm, says she was on vacation when wildfires roared…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":167404,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2879,525,17,9100,1272],"class_list":["post-167403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-agriculture","tag-business","tag-canada","tag-disaster","tag-prairies-bc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=167403"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167403\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/167404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=167403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=167403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}