The wildfire at Pear Lake is shown in this handout photo provided by British Columbia’s wildfire service taken on July 23, 2026. The Canadian Press/Handout-BC Wildfire Service
Two wildfires threatening the village of Clinton, B.C., and the surrounding area merged late Saturday, a day after the Pear Lake blaze destroyed structures, including homes, on the outskirts of the community.
An update from BC Wildfire Service said the Pear Lake and Fiftynine Creek blazes had combined and remained “very active” on Sunday, moving north and northeast of the Chasm area, about 20 kilometres north of Clinton.
Fire information officer Shae Stearns said crews continued to work in Clinton to protect structures and fight what she described as an “active fire” in the community, which was ordered evacuated as the Pear Lake fire surged on Friday.
“There’s no longer like the head of a fire progressing toward Clinton, (it’s) more like decreased fire behaviour,” she said in a phone interview on Sunday.
But there was still “quite a lot of ground firefighting-wise to cover,” she said.
Steve Larabie said he and his family had “lost everything” in the blaze, including their two homes and Larabie’s business about three kilometres south of Clinton.
Larabie had operated Steve’s Towing and Autobody for the last 12 years and said he initially stayed behind while the rest of his family left, but the conditions reached the point where he “couldn’t fight it” and he barely escaped the flames himself.
The village itself was largely spared as crews worked to keep the flames at bay.
Stearns said the wildfire service was still working to update its mapping, but the fires had merged along a stretch of Highway 97, which would require repairs.
Where the fire has crossed the highway, the service noted the flames were moving into an area already scarred by wildfire, helping to moderate its activity.
But the region has been plagued by drought, raising the risk of ignitions and aggressive fire behaviour. “The fuels are still very dry, even when we have those cooler temperatures and a higher relative humidity,” Stearns said.
While it was raining in Metro Vancouver on Sunday, she said significant rain was not expected in the Clinton area, about 350 kilometres to the northeast.
To the east, the Central Okanagan emergency management centre issued an evacuation alert for residents of more than 500 properties in the La Casa area north of West Kelowna, B.C., due to a nearby wildfire discovered Saturday.
An update from the centre said significant progress had been made fighting the blaze, but residents would continue to see flames and smoke.
The BC Wildfire Service said in its provincial situation report on Sunday that some areas had seen rain and cooler temperatures this weekend, providing temporary relief, but much of B.C. remained wracked by drought, with limited rain.
Personnel from Yukon Protective Services, Alberta Wildfire and Mexico are set to arrive in B.C. over the coming days to aid in the fight against about 140 active blazes throughout the province, the service noted.
