After receiving instructions from the authorities to evacuate their home immediately at 3 a.m. due to a fire in western Canada that was spreading rapidly, Larry and Mora Goodman formed a convoy with their neighbors and set out in search of a safe place.

Many “were elderly” and “afraid to drive at night,” Mora Goodman told Agence France-Presse in West Kelowna, in the province of British Columbia, in western Canada, which is taking in fire evacuees following the outbreak of the fire that authorities are calling the Bald Range Fire.

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The fire, which broke out Friday afternoon near Lake Okanagan, in the southern part of the province, quickly spread, leading to the urgent evacuation of more than 20,000 residents from their homes.

Authorities have warned that the situation risks worsening even further due to the drought in the region. They have declared a state of emergency. The province has requested assistance from the federal government to provide temporary housing for those who have left their homes.

In western #Canada, a massive wildfire continues to ravage southern British Columbia. The Bald Range Fire has already destroyed more than 13,000 hectares and led to the evacuation of more than 20,000 people.

An 80-year-old woman died while trying to leave… pic.twitter.com/rr2QJ0pyX2

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— FRANCE 24 Français (@France24_fr) August 10, 2026

An 80-year-old woman died while trying to flee her home to escape the fire, the Canadian Royal Canadian Mounted Police announced on Sunday.

The Goodmans live in Pitsland, a community that was in the path of the fire.

After confirming that everyone had loaded the belongings they wanted to take with them into their cars, Mora said that Larry mounted a light on the hood to improve visibility as the convoy began moving toward West Kelowna, 20 kilometers as the crow flies.

Larry Goodman, for his part, attributes the fact that people were able to escape to “luck.” He does not yet know whether their community and their home are still standing or have been burned down.

“We’re eating more than we do at home,” commented Mora Goodman, explaining that local restaurants and organizations have stepped up to offer support to those affected by the fire.

“Uncertainty”

In West Kelowna, Rob Henson of The Salvation Army noted that the fire has affected people from very different socioeconomic backgrounds.

“We’re helping migrant workers who were forced to flee the farms where they usually worked, left without even clothes or anything else.”

This year’s wildfire season in Canada is one of the most devastating on record, as the vast country is warming twice as fast as the rest of the planet.

Canada, home to more than a quarter of the North’s wild forests—40% of which are unexploited—in other words, has been left in its natural state—lacks the necessary resources, in terms of both human and material resources, to extinguish all the fires that break out and is focusing its efforts on protecting populated areas.

More than 40 million stremmata of mainly forested land have burned since the beginning of the year, according to the latest data from the federal government. By comparison, in 2023—a year that set a tragic record—some 180 million stremmata were burned.

British Columbia declared a state of emergency after thousands of people in the western Canadian province were ordered to flee a fast-moving wildfire that nearly doubled in size overnight https://t.co/5YVhS7SsRv pic.twitter.com/87mXF8l0gV

— Reuters (@Reuters) August 9, 2026

Tens of thousands of people have been forced to leave their homes, and in cities like Toronto, air quality has been among the worst in the world in recent months.

Ottawa is trying to adapt by expanding its fleet of firefighting aircraft and encouraging more proactive forest management, but the measures it is taking are reaching their limits.

“People are simply feeling insecure,” commented Rob Henson. “They want to get their old lives back, and that’s difficult.”

Source: Proto Thema