Calgary man describes escaping raging Okanagan wildfire as ash fell like snow

A Calgary man vacationing in British Columbia's Okanagan Valley was among thousands forced to flee when the Bald Range wildfire roared toward communities on the western side of Okanagan Lake over the weekend.

Matt Strickland, 33, had travelled to Penticton to perform at a show before joining friends for a camping trip near Summerland, about 12,000 residents. The group set up tents Friday morning and began noticing smoke rising from a nearby mountain. "You could see the sky was glowing red," Strickland said. "We were getting snowed on by ash."

For a time, conditions seemed manageable as winds pushed the fire away. But when winds abruptly shifted Friday evening, temperatures climbed rapidly and the evacuation alert came within minutes. "The wind shifted, and we felt temperatures climbing like 30 degrees," Strickland said. "We all knew: oh, that's not good."

As they packed and fled, ash and tree branches rained down. "The conditions were really bad. It was hard to breathe. It was very, very smoky," he said. The group drove to Penticton and spent the night in a Walmart parking lot, but deteriorating air quality forced them east to Cranbrook by Sunday.

The Bald Range fire, first reported Friday afternoon, grew to more than 95 square kilometres by Saturday. By Sunday afternoon, evacuation orders covered all of Summerland and about 8,000 residents in and around Peachland. The fire has since shown little new growth, with much of the fire front reaching Okanagan Lake, though RCMP are investigating a report of a possible fatality. Alberta deployed 186 firefighters, 27 support staff, two air tankers, and three helicopters to assist B.C. crews.