British Columbia wildfire that has forced 20,000 to flee grew overnight, officials say

WEST KELOWNA, British Columbia (AP) — A deadly wildfire in Western Canada that's forced some 20,000 people to flee grew overnight even without strong winds, challenging efforts to contain it and fully assess the damage, authorities said Tuesday.

About 100 firefighters from Mexico were on the way to help fight the blaze that's destroyed homes and other properties near Okanagan Lake in British Columbia. The fire has killed an 80-year-old woman and burned toward Summerland, a community of about 12,000 people roughly 300 kilometers (185 miles) east of Vancouver.

The fire showed “quite significant growth” in some areas overnight even without strong winds, said Cliff Chapman, director of provincial operations for the British Columbia Wildfire Service. He added crews were working around the clock to establish control lines and make it safe for evacuated residents to return home.

“We recognized and we heard even last night that people obviously would like to go home. They would like to see the extent of the damage,” Chapman said.

Kevin Dunbar, British Columbia’s executive director for emergency response and recovery operations, called it one of the largest evacuations in recent British Columbia history.

British Columbia officials said they had secured 1,600 hotel rooms and 1,000 group-lodging spaces for evacuees in Okanagan after some residents faced delays getting emergency assistance during the weekend evacuation.

Beyond those already forced to flee, another 10,000 people have been told to be ready to leave on short notice. More than 100 wildfires were burning across the province, and officials warned that dry lightning could spark new fires in the Central Interior and Okanagan. The province also asked the federal government for help expanding lodging for evacuees.

RCMP are investigating whether criminal activity played a role in the fire. Chapman said about 4% of wildfires in British Columbia over the past decade were suspected of having been deliberately set, but officials have not said the Bald Range fire was intentionally started.

Lucille and Gordon Beach of Summerland were in Vancouver for the weekend wedding of a granddaughter when they heard the fire had started. “We didn't feel too celebratory,” Lucille Beach said Tuesday.

The couple, staying for now in West Kelowna with their dog, haven't seen their home since leaving Friday but believed it was OK. It took a few days to adjust to the reality of what was happening, Lucille Beach said.

Carmen Bodzasy evacuated from Summerland, where she and her husband moved recently. She had to navigate evacuating on unfamiliar roads while he was away for work.

Before leaving, “I cried my eyes out for a minute, and I thought, you know what, if I had to restart over, what would I take with me?” She took photos of her parents' wedding, of her children's families and of her and her husband. “I thought if I didn’t have walls to go home to, at least I have memories to put up on my new one,” she said.

Holding her small dog Tuesday, she was not sure of the status of their home but said whatever happens, she intends to stay in Summerland, a place where people wave at passing motorists and stop to ask how you're doing.

“I’ll do whatever I can to help that town rebuild because everybody’s so kind there,” she said.

In the U.S., firefighters in California on Tuesday were fighting a blaze that’s burned roughly 3 square miles (8 square kilometers) in the Big Sur region of the state’s rugged central coast. Area state parks have closed and evacuation orders have been issued, including for a roughly 7-mile (11-kilometer) stretch of Highway 1, the state’s iconic coastal route. The highway was open as of Tuesday morning, California Highway Patrol spokesperson Ryan Moore said.

The Timber Fire has held east of the highway, authorities said.

Gillies reported from Toronto. Associated Press writer Claire Rush contributed from Portland, Oregon.

A firefighter cuts brush to stop the Timber Fire from burning above Deetjen's Inn in Big Sur, Calif., Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Nic Coury)

People float on the Channel Pathway that connects Okanagan Lake and Skaha Lake as smoke from wildfires burning in the region fills the air, in Penticton, British Columbia, Monday, Aug. 10, 2026. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)

People float on the Channel Pathway that connects Okanagan Lake and Skaha Lake as smoke from wildfires burning in the region fills the air, in Penticton, British Columbia, Monday, Aug. 10, 2026. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)

The Bald Range wildfire, that has forced people out of their homes in the south Okanagan region, burns in Summerland, B.C., late Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)

The Bald Range wildfire, that has forced people out of their homes in the south Okanagan region, burns in Summerland, B.C., late Saturday, Aug.8, 2026. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks slipped a bit further from their records Tuesday, while oil prices kept swinging on uncertainty about when the war with Iran will allow crude to flow freely again.

The S&P 500 fell 0.3% for a second modest drop since setting its all-time high on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 184 points, or 0.3%, and the Nasdaq composite sank 0.6%.

The action was stronger in the oil market, where the price for a barrel of Brent crude briefly jumped above $90 in the morning before falling back below $87. It eventually settled at $88.91, up 1.4% from Monday.

Such erratic moves have become typical since the United States and Israel attacked Iran in late February, which led to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and kept much of the world’s oil pent up in the Middle East. Last month alone, Brent’s price veered between $72 and $102 per barrel.

Higher oil prices make inflation worse, and they’ve sent the average cost for a gallon of regular gasoline to $4.01, according to AAA. That’s up from less than $3.14 a year ago, though it’s down from last week’s nearly $4.09.

That has Wall Street’s attention focused on Wednesday, when the U.S. government will release the latest monthly reading on inflation. Economists expect it to show inflation remains high but that it decelerated to 3.4% in July from 3.5% in June.

That could help the Federal Reserve, whose members are notably split on whether they should be raising the country’s interest rates to keep a lid on inflation. While higher rates could help slow the increases of prices on store shelves, they would also slow the overall U.S. economy by making it more expensive for U.S. households and businesses to borrow money. They would also undercut prices for stocks and other investments.

Traders are betting on a coin flip’s chance that the Fed will raise its main interest rate at its next meeting in September, according to data from CME Group. If it does, that would be the first increase in more than three years. It also could anger President Donald Trump, who has been lobbying for lower interest rates.

Treasury yields have jumped since the war with Iran because of higher oil prices and worries about inflation, sending long-term mortgage rates to their highest levels in a year.

The 10-year Treasury yield eased back Tuesday, falling to 4.69% from 4.72% late Monday. But it remains well above its 3.97% level from before the war with Iran.

On Wall Street, On Holding dropped 20.3% even though the Swiss sneaker company reported a better profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It gave a forecast for upcoming revenue that fell short of analysts’ expectations, while saying it does not want to slash prices to drum up more sales.

Companies broadly have been blowing past analysts’ forecasts, which Wall Street loves because stock prices tend to follow the path of corporate profits over the long term. Earnings per share for S&P 500 companies are on track to be 50% higher than a year earlier, according to FactSet, and that’s a big reason U.S. stocks have been setting records recently despite worries about expensive oil, high inflation and other challenges.

Aramark, the food company and facilities manager, rallied 8.5% after reporting stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Cardinal Health added 1.3% after topping analysts’ profit expectations for the spring.

All told, the S&P 500 fell 24.91 points to 7,728.20. The Dow Jones Industrial dropped 184.13 to 53,791.85, and the Nasdaq composite sank 159.91 to 26,445.45.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed in Europe and Asia. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.1% for one of the world’s bigger moves.

AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed to this report.

A general view shows the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, Aug. 7, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

A TV cameraman prepares to film near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the Korean Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (KOSDAQ) at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A dealer walks past near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A dealer stands near the screens showing the foreign exchange rates at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

An employee walks past near the screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)