PENTICTON, British Columbia (AP) — A wildfire that forced more than 20,000 people from their homes in western Canada moved so quickly that crews had to abandon firefighting to help residents escape, a pace British Columbia’s premier said Wednesday may represent a “new normal.”
The Bald Range wildfire erupted Friday near Summerland, a community of about 12,000 in British Columbia’s Okanagan region. By Wednesday, it had grown to about 184 square kilometers (71 square miles) after destroying homes and killing an 80-year-old woman.
"There’s an important set of lessons for us to take about how quickly this moved and that this may be our new normal for fire speed," Premier David Eby said. He said the blaze outpaced wildfire modeling and left some residents with little time to evacuate.
Officials have begun damage assessments, but the area remained unsafe Wednesday and there was no timeline for residents to return.
Crews were clearing vegetation to help slow the fire’s spread as officials warned that thunderstorms could bring erratic winds and increase fire activity. Highway 97, a major route through the area, remained closed.
Eby visited an evacuation reception center in Penticton, where he said he met people devastated by the loss of their homes.
“A lot of emotions in there, obviously,” he told reporters, calling the woman’s death a “tragic loss.”
Summerland pharmacist Jonathan Kiesman said he was worried about displaced patients getting their medications and said seeing the fire approach the community “almost brought tears to my eyes.”
Officials said they were withholding broader details on property losses until residents could be notified directly.
“The last thing that I would want is somebody to have the shock of finding out on social media or on television about their home being lost,” British Columbia Emergency Management Minister Kelly Greene said.
Eby said the province would review the response, including whether changes are needed to wildfire planning, building standards and vegetation management near communities.
Given the drought and summer heat, he warned, “this is very unlikely to be the last significant fire we see this summer.”
Summerland Mayor Doug Holmes warned that recovery would be long and difficult.
Canada has endured a series of severe wildfire seasons in recent years, with smoke repeatedly drifting into the United States. In record-setting 2023, fires burned more than 14.6 million hectares (36 million acres), an area roughly the size of Illinois.
Canada has warmed faster than the global average in recent decades, while the amount of land burned by wildfires has increased substantially. Much of the country’s forest is remote and dominated by spruce and pine, conditions that can make fires difficult to contain once they become established.
Fire crews drop water on a wildfire along Highway 3 in Manning Park, British Columbia, as fires burn throughout the southeastern part of the Provence on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Haven Daley)
Fire crews drop water on a wildfire along Highway 3 in Manning Park, British Columbia, as fires burn throughout the southeastern part of the Provence on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Haven Daley)
Fire crews drop water on a wildfire along Highway 3 in Manning Park, British Columbia, as fires burn throughout the southeastern part of the Provence on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Haven Daley)
HOPKINS, Minn. (AP) — A Minnesota man killed his wife and their 7-year-old daughter as young children gathered at a home daycare the couple owned before taking his own life, police said Wednesday. Some time prior to the attack, police believe he also killed a 78-year-old relative at her home.
The 41-year-old man fatally shot himself after stabbing his wife and child at their in-home daycare in Hopkins, a suburb of Minneapolis, police said.
All six other children who were at Brown Bear Childcare were not physically harmed, authorities said. Another parent called police after witnessing the attack in the home's basement while dropping off a child, Hopkins Police Chief Brent Johnson said.
“There’s no worse scenario than this, where you drop off your child somewhere you think is safe, and you get that phone call,” Johnson said at a news conference.
“This is a tragic day and horrific scene for little children to witness, if they did witness this,” Johnson later added.
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More than three hours after the killings, Burnsville Chief Matt Smith said officers were called to a home in his community, 20 miles (32 kilometers) from Hopkins, where they found a woman who had been fatally stabbed. He said investigators believe the two tragedies are linked, and that the man had been living at the home of the “close family relative.”
No names were released. Johnson said no clear motive had been determined yet and there was no history of police calls to the Hopkins address.
Johnson said it will take time for authorities to determine the timeline between the killings in Hopkins and Burnsville.
Amanda Marx, a nurse who lives across the street, didn’t realize anything was wrong until she noticed police officers trying to break down the home’s front door.
She said officers moved behind the house before reappearing and calling for crime scene tape. Later, several young children emerged — one being carried by an officer.
The brown, two-story house has a mural on the garage door of a tree-lined lake and a moose. Photos on the daycare’s Facebook page show kids playing with toys inside and in the backyard, with colorful decorations and artwork on the walls.
Marx said she and her 7-year-old son always referred to it as the “garage house” due to the colorful mural. The longtime resident said she’d never met the home’s owners and was unaware they were running Brown Bear Childcare out of the home. She didn’t recall any prior disturbances.
“I’m just trying to figure out how to explain to my 7-year-old why there’s crime scene tape on our deck,” she said.
Records show the daycare has been licensed by the state since 2019 and has a capacity of 10 children. It was found to be in compliance during visits in 2023, 2024 and 2025.
Johnson said killings are a “rarity” in Hopkins and that his officers were shaken by the scene they found inside the home.
“I could see on the look on their faces that this was one of those ones that you’ll remember for your entire career, if not life,” Johnson said.
Rico reported from Atlanta. Associated Press writer Ed White in Detroit contributed.
Burnsville Police Chief Matt Smith, right, attends a news conference in Hopkins, Minn., Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026, where police said a man who killed his wife and their 7-year-old daughter at an in-home daycare is also suspected of killing a 78-year-old female relative. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)
Hopkins Mayor Patrick Hanlon, flanked by Police Chief Brent Johnson, speaks at a news conference in Hopkins, Minn., Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026, where police said a man who killed his wife and their 7-year-old daughter at an in-home daycare is also suspected of killing a 78-year-old female relative. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)
Law enforcement respond to a call at a home daycare, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026, in Hopkins, Minn. (AP Photo/Carly Danek)
Law enforcement respond to a call at a home daycare, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026, in Hopkins, Minn. (AP Photo/Carly Danek)
Law enforcement respond to a call at a home daycare, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026, in Hopkins, Minn. (AP Photo/Carly Danek)
Law enforcement respond to a call at a home daycare, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026, in Hopkins, Minn. (AP Photo/Carly Danek)
Law enforcement respond to a call at a home daycare, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026, in Hopkins, Minn. (AP Photo/Carly Danek)
Law enforcement respond to a call at a home daycare, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026, in Hopkins, Minn. (AP Photo/Mark Vancleave)
