An official with the Fraser Valley Regional District says the out-of-control Ainslie Creek wildfire north of Boston Bar, B.C., has destroyed at least seven buildings, including four homes or seasonal cabins.
Patricia Ross, chair of the board of directors for the district, says the losses were identified by rapid damage assessments and more may be confirmed once it’s safe to investigate further.
Ross says it had looked like fire crews were starting to get a handle on the two fires that make up the Brunswick complex last weekend, but winds picked up again earlier this week, howling through the Fraser Canyon and fanning the flames.
The shift prompted wildfire officials on Thursday to order the evacuation of the town site of Boston Bar, a community of about 170 residents, while elevated fire behaviour forced crews to pull back and prioritize structure protection.
Gordon Robinson, a fire information officer assigned to the Brunswick complex, says conditions are now cooler and more humid, allowing crews to restart their direct attack on the blazes that together span just over 200 square kilometres.
Environment Canada has meanwhile issued a severe thunderstorm advisory for several regions, including much of Vancouver Island, the Peace region in B.C’s northeast and a swath of the Interior from Clinton north to Quesnel.
While the breakdown of a high-pressure ridge was aiding crews on Friday, Robinson says the forecast suggested the reprieve would be short lived.
“There isn’t like a big storm and wind event in the forecast like we had (Thursday), but we’re going to go back to that hot, drying kind of conditions,” he said.
“The weather isn’t going to do us any favours, it’s also, it’s not throwing us a real curve ball like it did (Thursday),” Robinson said of the firefighting efforts at the Brunswick complex.
Ross said she was aware that some people in Boston Bar had chosen to remain in their homes and businesses, contravening the evacuation order.
“We’re not unsympathetic. It must be incredibly hard,” she said in an interview on Friday. “People are trying to stay behind and do their best.
“But they’re not just putting themselves at risk, they’re putting the first responders at risk as well,” she said.
The number of active wildfires British Columbia spiked for a second straight day after thunderstorms rolled through parts of the province’s south overnight.
The BC Wildfire Service website showed there were more than 50 active blazes on Friday, up from around 30 a day earlier, and 20 or so on Wednesday.
Hundreds of homes remain under evacuation orders and alerts at several locations across the province, including Pemberton, B.C., where a wildfire discovered Wednesday continued to loom above the community of about 3,400 residents.
Emily Fardad with the BC Wildfire Service said on Thursday that crews made progress on the blaze near Pemberton, about 30 kilometres north of Whistler.
Fardad said no structures were at risk, and officials didn’t expect changes to the evacuation orders and alerts already in place, despite visible flames and smoke.
An evacuation order covers the area of One Mile Lake Park, while other parts of the village and surrounding area were placed under evacuation alert.
Fire officials had warned earlier this week of a possible spike in wildfire activity due to expected lightning strikes combined with very dry, hot conditions that provide ample fuel for fires.
This report by Brenna Owen of The Canadian Press was first published July 17, 2026.
