Fire

Highway 97 was closed Monday night as the Bald Range wildfire threatened communities in the central Okanagan.

The fight against the 15,590-hectare Bald Range wildfire is a “monumental task,” BC Wildfire Service incident commander Hugh Murdoch said during a Monday night emergency briefing, with crews facing a vast fireground and active fire behaviour around Summerland.

Summerland Mayor Doug Holmes is warning evacuated residents to brace themselves for what they may find when they return home, saying the community already knows people who have lost homes.

Officials are providing a live update on the escalating wildfire situation in the South Okanagan.

Defence Minister David McGuinty said Canada’s military is “on standby” to assist with British Columbia’s wildfire response if needed.

British Columbia is banning recreational off-road vehicles on Crown land in parts of the province to reduce the risk of wildfires.

The BC Wildfire Service has discovered a wildfire burning east of Summerland earlier this afternoon.

Penticton RCMP are asking for witnesses and video as investigators work to determine what started the Bald Range wildfire near Summerland.

Summerland evacuee Shea MacDonald says uncertainty over what he and his neighbours will find when they return home has been one of the hardest parts of being forced out by the Bald Range wildfire.

The Bald Range wildfire grew to an estimated 15,590 hectares Monday morning, according to BC Wildfire Service, while evacuation orders issued by local authorities kept thousands of South Okanagan residents away from their homes.