b.c. wildfires: evacuation order issued for 70 mile house, as two wildfires near clinton merge
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residents of 70 mile house, a community on highway 97 in b.c.’s cariboo region, have been told to leave their homes as an evacuation order for a wildfire north of clinton was expanded monday.
the evacuation order for the pear lake blaze, which fire officials say has now merged with the out-of-control fiftynine creek wildfire, now includes about 583 properties, according to the thompson-nicola regional district.
this includes the entire village of clinton and, as of monday afternoon, communities in 70 mile house and along meadow lake road. officials confirmed last week that some houses had been damaged or destroyed in the flames.
the b.c. wildfire service says the combined size of the pear lake and fiftynine creek fires is nearly 670 square kilometres, about one quarter the size of metro vancouver. there are now six evacuation orders and three evacuation alerts because of this fire complex.
“today we expect extreme fire behaviour because of strong southerly winds … we expect gusts of up to 70 kilometres an hour which will challenge our crews,” bryce moreira, incident commander with the b.c. wildfire service, said tuesday afternoon.
he said crews are focussed on crew safety and putting out spot fires to protect structures. he also said air attacks may become difficult because of the heavy smoke as the fire becomes more aggressive with the wind in the afternoon.
moreira added that because of the drought and consistently high winds in the area, the pear lake fire has been “extremely challenging.”
many residents in the cariboo have farm animals that need to be moved out of the dangerous areas.
“there’s a lot of smoke that rolls in, especially in the evening. and we get falling ash,” said carleigh jensan, owner of carleigh jensan horsemanship, a ranch in 70 mile house that offers training for cow and horse sports.
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like many of the ranchers in the region, jensan, whose property is on evacuation alert, has already moved much of her livestock because it’s too difficult to move so many large animals at a moment’s notice if an evacuation order comes down.
so she’s moving them to a ranch about 47 kilometres north in 103 mile house, owned by areal and karl lutsch.
“this ranch has taken in a number of other evacuated animals big and small,” she said.
numerous trailers move animals out of the evacuation and alert areas of 70 mile house because of the encroaching pear lake wildfire.
carleigh jensan
she’s concerned they might have to move them out of 103 mile house, as officials warn that “extreme fire behaviour” is expected in the coming days. the smoke and ash is also a major concern for the animals, especially the foals and any recovering from illness.
ricochet, a young filly less than a month old, rests after being moved to another ranch because of the pear lake wildfire. carleigh jensan horsemanship, a ranch in 70 mile house, was busy moving their animals tuesday after the ranch was put on evacuation alert.
carleigh jensan
carleigh jensan (right), owner of the carleigh jensan horsemanship ranch in 70 mile house, feeds animals that have been moved to another ranch because of the pear lake wildfire north of clinton b.c. jensan’s ranch was on evacuation alert tuesday.
areal lutsch
however, she said there has been many offers for safe accommodation for the animals from across b.c. and in alberta, noting that the horse community always rallies together in a crisis.
“it’s quite a thing. as soon as people heard that we were potentially on an alert, we had endless offers to drive trailers up and help us move. we have bison as well and cattle and all sorts of things. so just the amount of support that everybody does give out is always really encouraging in our community.”
in a social media post, the village of clinton said staff anticipate accessing the community within the next day or two to begin assessing damage. once affected properties have been identified, property owners will be contacted.
the update also said that more than 15 members of the village’s fire department remained to help protect the community.
pear lake wildfire – looking north on july 23, 2026. photo: b.c. wildfire service
bc wildfire service
a red and smoky sky in 70 mile house, b.c. the community is under evacuation orders and alerts as the pear lake wildfire creeps closer.
carleigh jensan
the more than 283-square-kilometre french bar creek fire, north at big bar creek, has prompted three evacuation orders and five evacuation alerts. the regional district has also declared a state of local emergency for this blaze.
as of friday morning, there were 139 wildfires torching the province, including 16 new wildfires igniting over 24 hours. of those, more than 50 are considered out of control and four are wildfires of note.
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meantime, fraser valley regional authorities are reporting acts of vandalism in the brunswick wildfire complex evacuation zone near boston bar.
the fraser valley regional district says the boston bar water system was vandalized leaving unknown damage to the community’s critical infrastructure. the crime is now under police investigation. anyone with information about it is asked to call hope rcmp.
the brunswick complex, which is made up of the brunswick creek and ainslee creek wildfires, is nearly 254 square kilometres still considered out of control. there are 14 evacuation orders, including all of boston bar, and five evacuation alerts.
campfire bans
authorities are reminding b.c. residents ahead of the long weekend to check whether there are campfire bans.
on the weekend, the b.c. conservation officer service issued 19 violation tickets totalling $21,850 in fines for illegal campfires.
conservation officers say claiming you didn’t know about the campfire ban is not an acceptable excuse.
campers can check whether there is a ban in place by visiting the b.c. wildfire service’s website.
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