WILDFIRE DESTROYS ABOUT 230 HOMES IN WESTERN CANADIAN INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY, OFFICIALS SAY

A fast‑moving wildfire, identified as the Bradley Creek fire, destroyed roughly 230 homes in an Indigenous community near Vernon, British Columbia, officials said Tuesday, making it one of Canada’s most destructive blazes in recent years.

Dan Wilson, chief of the Okanagan Indian Band, described the fire’s devastation after surveying the site by helicopter, noting that the reserve’s structures and surrounding forest were largely gone. The blaze ranks alongside the 2024 Jasper wildfire that destroyed about 350 homes and the 2023 McDougall Creek fire that took about 200 homes in the same Okanagan region.

The incident underscores Canada’s increasingly severe wildfire seasons, which have produced widespread smoke across North America and triggered air‑quality alerts nationwide.

• Bradley Creek wildfire destroyed ~230 homes in an Indigenous community near Vernon, BC.
• Fire was fast‑moving and severely damaged both structures and forest.
• The loss is comparable to major recent fires: 350 homes in Jasper (2024) and 200 in McDougall Creek (2023).
• Canada’s wildfire season is increasingly destructive, with smoke affecting air quality across the continent.
• Related coverage highlights the broader climate crisis driving more intense fires.

Read the original source for full detail available at Associated Press src