B.C. police launch wildfire arson investigations, as blazes raise trauma in Shuswap

All of the fires are considered suspicious, and are among a series of blazes under investigation by police in British Columbia’s Interior and Metro Vancouver.

The possible arson incidents come as evacuation orders expand in the Interior, and firefighters warn of an increase in starts as heat and severe drought grip much of southern B.C., where raging fires have destroyed hundreds of homes and forced thousands to flee.

Evans says it’s a “mystery” how the brush fires started within such a short time span in the Anglemont area, about 110 kilometres northeast of Kamloops, B.C.

But he says they stirred trauma among residents who recall the ferocious blaze that destroyed more than 170 structures in the area in 2023.

“I can’t understand why anybody would do this in a place that’s so volatile to begin with and is full of such trauma that remains, PTSD, from what has happened in the past,” he said in an interview.

“People are having a hard time sleeping at night thinking that there might still be somebody out there with this on their mind.”

The Columbia Shuswap Regional District said RCMP are investigating the fires.

Three of the fires, spaced about 100 metres apart in a ditch alongside a local road, were called in at about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, while two more were reported in the Anglemont Estates area.

The district says the fires were extinguished and crews conducted “tactical patrols” in the area throughout the night.

Coquitlam RCMP have meanwhile asked for witnesses or those with video from the Belcarra Regional Park area on Wednesday to come forward, saying the cause of the wildfire there this week was under investigation.

The blaze triggered this season’s first evacuation alerts for Metro Vancouver in the village of Anmore, about 30 kilometres east of Vancouver.

Police want anyone who was in the area between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. on Wednesday and may have dash camera, cellphone or surveillance footage to contact them.

RCMP in Kelowna, B.C., are also investigating a series of fires believed to have been set intentionally at a local urban park.

A statement from the Mounties says officers and firefighters responded to several small fires in the Black Mountain area near Gopher Creek Linear Park, east of the city centre, at about 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

Police say residents and people in the park acted quickly to extinguish the blazes, which were close to each other.

The province’s southern Interior has been hardest hit by a recent surge in fire activity, with an out-of-control blaze near Clinton, B.C. forcing a fresh round of evacuation orders and alerts overnight.

The Squamish-Lillooet Regional District says more than 40 additional properties southeast of the massive Pear Lake wildfire have been ordered evacuated.

Evacuation alerts have also been issued for nearby areas, including near Marble Canyon Park and Pavilion Lake, due to the same fire.

The Pear Lake fire spans more than 1,300 square kilometres and is among five out-of-control wildfires of note listed by the BC Wildfire Service.

The Ainslie Creek fire, part of the Brunswick complex of fires burning in B.C.’s Fraser Canyon, has also prompted expanded orders and alerts as it spreads east.

The Thompson-Nicola Regional District issued an evacuation order Friday for properties south of Merritt, B.C., on the west side of Highway 5.

An evacuation alert also covers more than 780 properties in an expansive area west of Merritt.

More firefighters from other jurisdictions have been arriving in B.C. to combat the blazes.

The Australian and New Zealand National Council for fire and emergency services says in a Facebook post that 41 firefighters from those two countries have been deployed to B.C., while a fresh wave of 200 personnel from Mexico arrived in the province on Thursday.

There are about 100 active wildfires burning in B.C., mostly in the southern Interior, with roughly half of them out of control.

More than 1,500 firefighters and several hundred structure protection personnel are involved in the battle.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 7, 2026.

Brenna Owen, The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press

B.C. police launch wildfire arson investigations, as blazes raise trauma in Shuswap

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