B.C. wildfire service at capacity with over 120 blazes in the province
With over 120 fires blazing across the province as of Saturday morning, the B.C. Wildfire Service says it's all hands on deck — and then some.
Jean Strong with the B.C. Wildfire Service says they are at capacity with their resources and starting to draw on other resources like local fire departments, contractors and federal reserves.
Keep up with the latest wildfire information at The Weather Network's wildfire hub.
"The fires that need resources have them," she said.
According to the province, 1,300 properties have been ordered to evacuate and another 6,650 properties are under evacuation alert as of Saturday morning.
The Thompson Nicola Regional District ordered approximately 61 properties to evacuate Saturday morning due to the Ainslie Creek wildfire, burning in the Fraser Canyon as part of the Brunswick Creek complex.
A further 647 properties are under evacuation alert.
The Nooaitch Indian Band also issued an evacuation order for IR #10 due to this wildfire complex, and the nearby Shackan Indian Band is under evacuation alert.
The Big Bar wildfire complex burning in B.C.'s cariboo region, consisting of the Fiftynine Creek, Pear Lake and French Bar Creek wildfires, has also prompted expanded orders and alerts Saturday.
Approximately 299 properties are under evacuation order Saturday, up from 280 on Friday, and 688 properties are under evacuation alert due to the Fiftynine Creek wildfire.
Meanwhile, the nearby Pear Lake wildfire forced approximately 436 properties in the community of Loon Lake under evacuation alert Saturday afternoon.
The village of Clinton was evacuated Friday for the same wildfire.
Jean Strong with the B.C. Wildfire Service says conditions have been challenging over the past few days, and they expect it to continue.
She says in southern B.C., they are expecting another few days of hot and dry weather and strong winds.
"I expect that we’ll continue to see some of those larger fires as well as any new starts growing quite aggressively," she said.
Several highways are closed due to wildfires across the province. Drivers can check DriveBC for updates.
Environment Canada has issued an air quality warning due to wildfire smoke for much of the province, including the Okanagan, Cariboo, Boundary and Fraser Canyon.
This article, written by Michelle Gomez, was originally published for CBC News on July 25, 2026.