B.C. wildfires force evacuations as smoke blankets the Interior; Clinton threatened

The town of Clinton, British Columbia, has been placed under evacuation order as three major wildfires burn around 35,000 hectares in the region about 100 kilometres northwest of Kamloops.

The Pear Lake fire, west of the town, prompted the evacuation order Friday, according to the Thompson-Nicola Regional District. The Pear Lake, Fiftynine Creek, and French Bar Creek fires are all burning in the area.

Helene Cade, 94, a former president of the town's museum, is among those evacuating from the seniors' care home she lives in. "I'm finding it hard to leave things that I know I can't take with me," she said.

The town of more than 650 residents faces an uncertain future as fires close in. A 2017 wildfire devastated the region and forced evacuation, though no structures were damaged that year. This year, approximately 20 properties have been affected by the Fiftynine Creek wildfire, and at least a dozen homes were lost at Big Bar Lake, about 25 kilometres north of Clinton, since last Friday.

Wildfire smoke, mostly from fires 130 kilometres south in the Fraser Canyon, continues to blanket much of the southern Interior. Air quality varies considerably hour by hour, though conditions have improved in parts of the Okanagan and Nicola Valley. The Fraser Canyon and South Thompson were under air-quality warnings Friday afternoon.

Environment Canada says smoke is expected to persist for another 24 to 48 hours. This year's wildfire season is projected to rival some of the worst on record, including the devastating years of 2017, 2018, and 2021.