Since a large majority of Bald Range Wildfire evacuees have returned home, officials at the City of Penticton have taken time to reflect on the emergency response. 12,000 people were told to flee in the early hours of August 8, 2026 when the fast moving Bald Range Wildfire encroached onto the District of Summerland. Many more were told to flee from nearby areas in the Okanagan Similkameen and Penticton Indian Band with the only escape from flames being the City of Penticton.
Evacuees spent many days in the City during what is normally a busy time for tourism with Peach Fest in full swing. Regardless of the situation, the City of Penticton jumped into action acting as a hub for many fleeing from wildfire. Penticton Mayor Julius Bloomfield says with many evacuees returning home, the City will continue to support neighbouring communities hit hard by the fire.
“life is getting back to normal to some extent but for a lot of people it is nowhere near normal. We have to make sure that as the community moves back to normal, we have to acknowledge people that have lost everything and really help them weather that storm. There is going to be a tough couple of years for a lot of people in and around the community.” said Bloomfield, “We have a new normal. We have to make sure that when we build back, we build back to a better level and to a better standard and something more resilient to these situations because it would appear that this type of emergency is becoming more common. It used to be absolutely extraordinary to have whole towns evacuated, It is happening more often now, so we have to make sure that our systems can withhold that kind of pressure.”
On AM 1150’s Early Edition, Mayor Bloomfield was asked about what kind of financial burden the city undertook for such a large emergency response and how it is shared with other levels of Government. He said the financials will be discussed once the response to the Bald Range Wildfire has wrapped up.
“That is going to be a good question and a good discussion that we are going to have with the Kelly Greene, the Minister of Emergency Preparedness and Emergency Management. I think that we need to have some certainty as to knowing how that is going to be dealt with. We’ve worked on good faith and we haven’t been disappointed in the past. I don’t expect to be disappointed this time around either.”
The Mayor says lessons learned from the emergency response to the Bald Range Wildfire will also be front and centre in discussions at the upcoming Union of BC Municipalities convention slated for mid September in Vancouver, B.C.
“I’ve made a list of takeaways from all of these events over the past two weeks that I’m going to formulate, put in and pass around at UBCM. First of all, you got to have an evacuation plan and we’ve got that, we did that. We were looking at if things went sideways, would we have to evacuate Penticton, and there was a plan for that. Every community should have that kind of plan at hand ready in case the worst happens. Each community should have a plan as to how to host other communities. I think Penticton did a lot of things right. Some things could have gone better, that’s for sure. I think that we can sit in a room full of our peers and say this is what we did and this is what we think your goal should be. We can be a valuable part of that conversation moving forward.”
Looking back on the entire situation, Bloomfield said the response for evacuees in the City was uplifting to witness firsthand.
“Everybody came to help. The common theme was how can I help? Whether it be community, whether it be individuals, or companies, businesses, associations, the outpouring of support was spectacular.”
The Bald Range Wildfire remains out of control at 25,021 Hectares. BC Wildfire Service crews continue to fight the fire with 339 personnel, 15 helicopters, 79 pieces of heavy equipment and 19 structure protection personnel.
