Wildfires burn across western US and Canada as residents are evacuated
[August 10, 2026]
By JAMIE STENGLE and WUFEI YU
Wildfires burning across the western U.S. and Canada on Sunday left some
residents keeping a wary eye out for possible evacuation orders while
others already forced to flee their homes waited to see what would be
left on their return.
In western Canada, over 20,000 people were forced to flee communities
along Okanagan Lake in British Columbia over the weekend as a
fast-moving wildfire destroyed homes and dozens had to be rescued by
aircraft. In the U.S., crews in Washington that have been fighting three
wildfires that began burning in the Spokane area for over a week
continued cleanup near containment lines.
Laurie Allen left her home in Nine Mile Falls, a community north of
Spokane, last weekend, fleeing with her husband, dog and two kittens as
a wildfire burned a short distance away. The roads into her neighborhood
were still closed Sunday but she said she'd learned from a friend that
while covered in ashes, her house and others nearby were intact.
“I’ve been here 65 years. It’s never happened,” Allen said. “We didn’t
think about anything but grabbing our animals and leaving. But now it’s
affected so many of our friends and family around. So it’s pretty dang
devastating.”
Over 20,000 flee Canadian wildfires
In Canada, Anette Boulet was among residents who fled Summerland, home
to about 12,000 people along Okanagan Lake in British Columbia. As she
and her family left around 4:30 a.m. Saturday, their home was shrouded
in smoke.
“You couldn’t see barely. It was, it was just dark, and the ridge, the
ridge of fire just coming towards you,” said Boulet, who evacuated to a
center in Penticton.
“There’s no words to express it," she said. "The fear.”
Later Sunday, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said an 80-year-old
woman died while trying to escape the wildfire that forced evacuations
in the Okanagan Lake region.
Besides the evacuations in Summerland, the Bald Range fire, first
reported Friday evening, has also led to the evacuation of about 8,000
people in and around nearby Peachland. British Columbia declared a state
of emergency Saturday.
Eleanor Olszewski, Canada’s minister of emergency management and
community resilience, said Sunday on social media that she’d approved a
request for federal assistance from British Columbia to provide shelter
and accommodations for those forced to flee.
Spokane-area fires leave residents on edge
Crews fighting three wildfires in the Spokane area continued “mop-up
operations” on Sunday near containment lines, and none of the fires were
growing, according to a news release from the team managing those
wildfires. The fires, which have burned over the last week, have damaged
or destroyed about 920 structures.
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People float in the water while a helicopter being used to battle
wildfires flies overhead as smoke from the Bald Range wildfire
envelops Okanagan Lake, in Penticton, B.C., on Sunday, Aug. 9, 2026.
(Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)
Earlier in the week, a man was arrested and charged with
intentionally setting the biggest of the three Spokane-area blazes.
Residents in the tiny rural town of Malden, located about 35 miles
(55 kilometers) south of Spokane, had been urged Saturday to
evacuate immediately. By Sunday, however, their evacuation level was
downgraded to be ready to quickly leave if necessary.
“The wind is fairly calm. The fire is not progressing,” said John
Goyke, whose company operates Malden’s water under contract, “but
we’re using social media and Facebook to keep in contact with
everyone.”
Goyke, who is the mayor of nearby Rosalia, said Malden’s residents
have been told to conserve water so it can be saved for fire trucks
if needed, and Malden’s fire department has been trucking water from
Rosalia.
In 2020, Malden was mostly destroyed by a wildfire, losing its fire
station, post office, city hall and library.
Two killed fighting wildfire when helicopter crashes
In Utah, two helicopter pilots were killed when their aircraft
crashed while they were fighting a wildfire Friday morning in the
Fishlake National Forest. Crews were finally able to get to the site
Saturday to confirm the deaths.
Officials said Sunday that fire activity had prevented them from
quickly reaching the area amid steep, rough terrain.
“When we first got there we could see two different plumes of smoke,
one from the crash site, one from an active fire coming towards us,”
Sevier County Sheriff Nathan Curtis said.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause
of the crash.
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Associated Press reporter Holly Ramer contributed to this report.
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