Structure protection unit on a building in a wildfire zone/via Canadian Firefighter magazine

UPDATE: 7:15pm Sunday

The adage “no news is good news,” could hold in this situation, though that has not been made clear in a late-afternoon update from the Village of Clinton.

“No update to provide this evening on behalf of the Village, but please see [highlighted] update from Thompson-Nicola Regional District on the current situation,” said the Village in its Facebook feed, which is acting as its official information conduit for residents to get the latest public updates.

However, the Village was a bit more pessimistic in tone about an hour earlier, where it did warn those who stayed behind to stop using their water immediately as part of an ‘Emergency Water Conservation Notice.’

“The Village of Clinton’s water supply has reached critically low levels,” the Village noted.  “An evacuation order remains in effect and any residents that remain must immediately stop all outdoor and non-essential water use.”

“The Village needs to ensure sufficient water remains available for the Clinton Fire Department to protect critical infrastructure,” noted the Village, which would suggest those who are staying behind to protect their properties with sprinklers or hoses or are being told to do so with their own water supplies — if they have any available.

The BC government does not recommend home owners try to install their own structural protection units for a number of reasons, including the technical skill that is required to establish a consistent amount of water on a building to ensure it can fully resist embers.

Another — beyond a home owner staying in a fire zone when an evacuation order is issued — is the potential of water damage.

The BC government, through its FireSmart Program, notes homes which suffer direct water damage will not likely be covered by insurance for that damage.

Any home which suffers damage from fire that wasn’t properly protected — if professional fire protection units were available — might also have a difficult time being accepted for an insurance claim.

UPDATE: 3:45pm Sunday

Additional evacuees likely headed into Kamloops, as the TNRD has announced its going to be forcing the evacuation of an unincorporated community under its jurisdiction on Monday.

This has been put out to the folks living in and around 70 Mile and the surrounding area:

“In coordination with the BC Wildfire Service, the TNRD Emergency Operations Centre plans to put an Evacuation Order in place TOMORROW, Monday, July 27, 2026, at 10:00 am,” said the TNRD in an update which it also provided via its social media channels on Sunday. “This is due to the projected growth of the Pear Lake wildfire towards the area.”

Graphic showing the size of the now-combined Pear Lake and Fiftynine Creek wildfires, which merged on Sunday/via BC Wildfire Service

While the Pear Lake is the fire threatening Clinton, as of Sunday, the BC Wildfire is combining the updates for the Pear Lake fire and the Fiftynine Creek fire together — as the fires themselves have now merged.

Any future updates will now be known officially as the Pear Lake fire, making it a massive 669 square kilometers in size (66,871 hectares)

That assessment of reduced fire activity through the earlier part of Sunday has been echoed by the Village of Clinton as well through its own Sunday update.

Original story: Saturday, 2:25pm.

The City of Kamloops finds itself at the epicenter of the growing wildfire battles in the BC Interior, as the city is welcoming through more welcoming more BC Wildfire Service personnel through, while also becoming the main staging area for evacuees fleeing the fires in the southern Cariboo and the Fraser Canyon.

As word started to trickle in on Friday from people associated with the fire fight that additional wildland personnel were on their way into Kamloops [Sunday confirmation] from abroad to help battle the blazes in the south Cariboo and the Fraser Canyon, things seemed to be looking up.

While temperatures were still high, the weekend forecast had been looking moderate.

However, that’s when things took a turn in the South Cariboo from the Pear Lake fire south of Clinton.

Originally, that blaze had only forced a few folks out of a nearby campground earlier in the week due to its encroachment, but would later put the entire village of Clinton on Evacuation Alert.

Map showing Evacuation Order covering Village of Clinton issued Friday/via TNRD

But then the fire took a turn for the worse as the Friday went along, just hours after the Village of Clinton declared a full evacuation order earlier on the Friday.

“The fire split and travelled up Hart Ridge to the South and towards Lime Lookout to the Northeast,” the Village of Clinton wrote on its social media page.  “While there are structure losses, the extent of the damage will need to be assessed once the danger has passed and property owners can be notified.”

“The extent of the damage is in the South side of town in the industrial area,” the Village added.

Kamloops expands ESS coverage as a result

The City of Kamloops has moved to expand its operational capacity for the Emergency Support Services intake to accommodate the roughly 600 people who have been forced out of Clinton, many of whom are expected to come south into Kamloops, given the extent of the wildfire situation in other parts of the southern Cariboo.

Those fires too have sent evacuees into Kamloops, prompting the City of Kamloops to establish group lodging at McArthur Island.

“While initially established to assist evacuees from the Boston Bar area, the City is supporting individuals displaced from multiple communities affected by wildfire activity across the province,” said the City in an update late Friday evening.  “Evacuees continue to arrive in Kamloops, with additional arrivals expected in the coming days.”

The City says the additional beds are being set up as a precaution at this point.

“Group lodging has been established at McArthur Island to provide temporary accommodation should commercial lodging capacity become constrained,” said the City in its Friday update.  “The facility currently includes 50 beds and can be expanded to accommodate up to 100 guests if required.”

But at the same time, those who want to help are being told to give Emergency Social Services and the overall Emergency Operations Center time to process folks before flooding them with donations — or offers of further help.

“The City would like to thank residents for their generosity and willingness to support those affected by the wildfire situation,” said the City of Kamloops [City’s bold].  “However, the Emergency Support Services Reception Centre at McArthur Island cannot accept donations of any kind or accommodate walk-in volunteers.”

While lauding the nature of the requests to help out, the City notes there are guidelines it has to adhere to.

“The primary function of the Reception Centre is to register evacuees and process applications for Emergency Support Services assistance,” noted the City.  “This provincially mandated process requires specialized training that cannot be provided during an active emergency response.”

“Additionally, the team does not have the capacity to collect, store, or distribute donated goods,” added the City.