B.C. ends fire state of emergency after 20 days, thousands of evacuations, one death

British Columbia has ended a provincial state of emergency that was imposed on Aug. 8 in response to wildfires that sent thousands of people fleeing and resulted in one death.

The state of emergency had previously been scheduled to end on Saturday but the government said it lifted the declaration early on the advice of emergency officials.

A statement by the Emergency Management Ministry said the declaration was imposed to make emergency powers and other tools available quickly but they fortunately were not needed.

Cancellation of the declaration has no effect on evacuation orders and alerts that remain in place across B.C.

The state of provincial emergency was declared hours after the Bald Range wildfire forced residents west of Okanagan Lake to flee, with more than 20,000 people evacuated from their homes.

The 252-square-kilometre fire, which is still burning out of control, destroyed or damaged about 150 homes after it roared down on communities on the night of Aug. 7.

One woman died suddenly when she was trying to evacuate her home in the Meadow Valley area outside Summerland.

There are about 200 active wildfires burning across B.C., after lightning moved through the central Interior this week and triggered new fire starts.

In another milestone in the B.C. fire fight, a stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway through the Fraser Canyon reopened on Wednesday after being shut down for more than seven weeks.

The area just south of Boston Bar had been closed since July 7 due to the Brunswick complex of wildfires — among the largest in the province this season.

The B.C. Transportation Ministry said a two-kilometre stretch of the highway was reopened with single-lane alternating traffic in order to support infrastructure restoration by BC Hydro.

The ministry said a pilot vehicle would guide traffic and temporary full closures were still possible due to blasting and tree-falling by crews replacing hydro poles.

A total of more than 500 homes or other structures have been destroyed or damaged by wildfires in B.C. this year, in a level of devastation comparable to some of the worst recent fire seasons.

However, the area of 4,700 square kilometres burned by about 1,100 fires so far this year has only been a fraction of the area burned in other years — such as 2023 when a record 29,000 square kilometres burned.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 27, 2026.

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