Bald Range Fire Erupts Near Summerland, BC — "Like a Bomb Going Off"

The Bald Range fire ignited around 5:30pm and grew from 50 to 95 km² within 24 hours, with flames reaching over 61 metres and generating pyrocumulus clouds with self-sustaining fire lightning. Premier David Eby relayed the fire commander's description: "like a bomb going off." All 12,000 residents of Summerland were ordered to evacuate immediately; at least 55 people were rescued by helicopter and roughly 10,000 sheltered in Penticton.