The Bradley Creek wildfire more than doubled in size over the weekend, prompting a series of new evacuation orders and forcing thousands of people from their homes.

The affected communities are located at the northern end of Okanagan Lake. On Saturday afternoon, evacuation orders were issued for areas within the Okanagan Indian Band, Splatsin First Nation and the township of Spallumcheen.

During a Sunday news conference, BC Wildfire Service (BCWS) Director of Wildfire Operations Cliff Chapman said more than 5,000 people across British Columbia had been evacuated in the previous 24 hours as wildfire activity intensified.

“We are seeing fuel conditions that we have never seen before. We are seeing fire behaviour and fire growth that we have never experienced in B.C. up until this point,” Chapman said.

According to BCWS, the Bradley Creek wildfire grew from approximately 10 square kilometres to about 26 square kilometres over the weekend, highlighting the rapid fire growth being driven by current conditions.

In a statement posted on Facebook, the BCWS stated that changes to weather over the past 24 hours has driven the growth.

“B.C. has experienced a dynamic weather event that drove erratic winds and gusts of up to 80 km/h in the Okanagan region. Rapid shifts in wind direction contributed to aggressive fire behaviour, challenging containment efforts on both new and existing wildfires across the area.”

The outlook on wildfires across the province is also changing based on weather.

“Across the province, we received over 2200+ lightnings strikes, with 22 suspected lightning-caused wildfires starting in the last 24 hours. Of these, 12 have been classified as Out, Under Control or Being Held, and 10 remain classified as Out of Control,” read the Facebook statement.