The wildfire season in British Columbia has been transformed in a flash, with lightning strikes sending the tally of blazes burning in the province past 100.
On Wednesday morning the province’s firefighters faced only about 20 blazes in what had been a relatively quiet season, but as of Saturday morning there were about 115 fires burning, including about 77 started in the last 24 hours.
Two-thirds of the fires are burning out of control and most new blazes, orders and alerts are concentrated in the southern B.C. Interior.
But Attila Banhegyi remains unfazed after choosing to remain behind in his house in Boston Bar, B.C., near the Brunswick Creek fire with an area of 40 square kilometres and the Ainslie Creek fire with an area of 160 square kilometres.
The community of around 160 people in B.C.’s Fraser Canyon was ordered to evacuate on Thursday, but Banhegyi says he has remained behind out of “convenience and necessity” because he needs to look after his two businesses and animals, including 12 chickens.
Firefighters drive past a house with sprinklers deployed on the roof at the base of a mountain where the Brunswick Creek wildfire is burning, in North Bend, B.C., on Thursday, July 9, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck (THE CANADIAN PRESS)
He says the local restaurant and gas station are still open, as is the motel, which is housing the firefighting crews.
Banhegyi says he estimates that somewhere between 40 and 50 per cent of Boston Bar has remained behind and he says the “vibes are pretty good” among those who have stayed behind.
“It depends on the person, but the people who have stayed behind are in good spirits,” he says.
Banhegyi says life is a little bit different in the area, when asked how the public might react, when reading about people who have chosen to stay behind despite an evacuation order.
“We have grown to be self-sufficient in many aspects,” he says. “So we like to exercise self-governance, and sometimes being told what to do in our local area by people who aren’t on the ground doesn’t necessarily align with our own values.”
He says that he is ready to leave on a moment’s notice, adding that his wife and their two children, a 3 1/2-year-old girl, and a 3 1/2-month old boy, left town the day before the evacuation order.
Banhegyi says his wife would prefer him to join the rest of the family. “But she trusts me, and knows that I will be safe,” he says.
The Boston Bar resident says current conditions in his community are “nice and quiet,” adding that he can hear local birds chirp.
“I’m just enjoying these beautiful summer days,” he says.
A helicopter drops water while fighting the Signal Hill wildfire in Pemberton, B.C., on July 17, 2026. (Ethan Cairns/CBC)
Fire activity has picked up across the province. The B.C. Wildfire Service has attributed the vast majority of the new fires to the 4,000 lightning strikes it says hit the province that day.
British Columbia Forests Minister Ravi Parmar says this lightning was forecasted earlier this week.
“Over the past 48 hours, we have seen the impact of those conditions,” he said in a statement released Saturday.
The minister says B.C. Wildfire Service has deployed more than 770 wildland firefighters as of Friday, and hundreds more are ready to go. “To the communities dealing with the uncertainty and fear of an active wildfire, we are with you,” he says.
People watch as helicopter prepares to drop water while fighting the Signal Hill wildfire in Pemberton, B.C., on July 17, 2026. (Ethan Cairns/CBC)
The eruption of fire activity has also seen an increase in evacuation orders and alerts.
The most recent figures from B.C. Wildfire Service say about 575 properties across B.C. are subject to evacuation orders, with about 1,740 more on evacuation alert. It says about 399 people are receiving emergency support services.
The Thompson-Nicola Regional District on Friday ordered the evacuation of 131 properties near Big Bar Lake and Meadow Lake due to the Fiftynine Creek fire, which has also prompted an evacuation alert for 63 properties located in the nearby Bonaparte Plateau.
Those evacuated included campers at the Big Bar Lake Provincial Park campground. Colton Davies, with the district, says the campground has about 50 sites and was close to full.
“The evacuation went fairly orderly and no issues that we’re aware of, everybody was able to get out safely,” he said.
On Saturday afternoon, the district ordered two addressed properties to evacuate due to the French Bar Creek wildfire, burning just west of the Fiftynine Creek fire. These were in addition to one unaddressed property it ordered to evacuate Thursday.
Davies said the two properties evacuated on Saturday both belong to the Empire Valley Ranch.
A large nearby area of grass and forest land with no properties on it is also under evacuation alert, according to Davies.
Number of B.C. wildfires double overnight as bad weather threatens firefighting efforts
A wildfire — that doubled in size overnight — continues to burn near Pemberton as hundreds of residents remain on evacuation alert. The B.C. Wildfire Service says dry conditions and severe lightning have sparked more fires, with the number of active wildfires in the province now close to 100.
Jim Smith, who represents the evacuated area at the regional district, says the fire grew very quickly because of the strong winds in the area.
“It wasn’t long in between the [evacuation] alert and the order,” he says. “The fire just roared right up to Big Bar Lake. So we are expecting that there is going to be structural loss, but we are not sure at this time.”
Smith says most of the evacuated properties lie on the northern side of the lake, with a few ranches and farms in the area.
“There is a fair amount of livestock, and I believe they started moving as soon as the alert was on,” Smith says.
The Cariboo Regional District triggered an evacuation due to the Bowers Lake fire on Friday, as well as an alert for the Lessard Lake fire.
More than 500 firefighters have been called in to fight fires across the province.
Weather warnings
Earlier this week, fire officials warned of a weather system bringing lightning and ideal conditions for both starting and spreading significant fires on B.C.’s parched landscape.
The Fiftynine Creek fire, for example, was only detected on Friday, but by that evening had already grown to about 40 square kilometres.
An update from the wildfire service on Friday said that as the weather system moved into Alberta, officials anticipated more lightning strikes “and, in the coming days, more fire starts.”
Environment and Climate Change Canada has issued severe thunderstorm warnings for the Cariboo region as well as the Peace River and Fort Nelson regions Saturday afternoon and evening.
It has also issued air quality warnings for much of B.C.’s southern Interior, including the Fraser Canyon, South Thompson, 100 Mile House, Okanagan, and Boundary areas.
It said these areas are impacted by wildfire smoke over the weekend, and warns of reduced visibility. It recommends people reduce strenuous outdoor activities and to stay indoors in a space with clean air.
There is also a heat warning in effect for the Fort Nelson region through to the middle of next week.