Wildfires

B.C. officials are providing a provincial update Tuesday at 11 a.m. as major wildfires in the Okanagan have forced thousands of people from their homes and prompted widespread evacuation orders and alerts.

The B.C. government has secured more than 1,000 hotel rooms in the Okanagan and increased staffing for its evacuee helpline as people leave their homes because of the Bald Range wildfire.

The chief of the Penticton Indian Band is urging the provincial and federal governments to prioritize wildfire preparedness to help protect communities across B.C., including those in the Okanagan threatened by increasingly large fires.

Some residents displaced by the Bald Range wildfire are being granted temporary access to Summerland for critical purposes as emergency officials plan for a staged return to the community.

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.