Fast-growing Canada wildfire forces thousands from their homes

A wildfire in British Columbia, Canada, has doubled in size overnight, prompting authorities to order a mandatory evacuation of Summerland, a district with a population of around 12,000. Officials said power went out across the area early Saturday.

Interior Health, the region's publicly funded health authority, said hundreds of residents from Summerland care facilities, including senior housing, were being moved to safer locations.

BC Premier David Eby credited first responders, BC Wildfire Service crews, Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers, emergency management teams and local communities for working through the night to keep people safe and battle the blaze near Summerland, adding that they were continuing to do everything possible to protect people and communities.

It remains unclear how many structures have been destroyed. Evacuation orders were also issued in the nearby districts of Okanagan, Peachland and Okanagan-Similkameen, with evacuation alerts issued in some other areas.

An official who had been providing updates from the Okanagan-Similkameen emergency operations centre on Friday evening said the following morning, in a video filmed from his car, that he had left the centre to evacuate his own family and was heading south.

Canadian broadcaster CBC reported that residents in Okanagan have struggled to evacuate horses, with some leaving gates open so the animals could find their own way to safety, and others marking their animals to make them easier to identify later.

Canada has faced hundreds of wildfires this summer. Nearly 200 fires burned in Ontario in July alone, pushing Toronto's air quality to among the worst in the world for several days. Smoke from Canadian wildfires has also drifted into parts of the United States, including Minnesota and New York, prompting US President Donald Trump to threaten new tariffs against Canada.