1:00 a.m. live briefing: B.C. wildfire grows as drone and Gulf attacks land

Cutoff: 1:00 a.m. PDT, Saturday, July 18, 2026. Outside Metro Vancouver, the Fiftynine Creek wildfire near Big Bar Lake had grown to about 4,000 hectares by 8:00 p.m. Friday while an evacuation order remained in force. The newest world reports put fresh drone strikes in Russia and renewed Iran-Gulf attacks in the overnight file.

Environment Canada’s latest Vancouver International Airport record before the cutoff was 00:00 PDT: mostly cloudy, 17°C, southeast winds at 11 km/h, and 32 km visibility. This is an airport observation, not a citywide incident report. 1

The Fiftynine Creek wildfire near Big Bar Lake remains out of control. EmergencyInfoBC’s 7:30 p.m. PDT update says the expanded evacuation order covers properties around Big Bar Lake, including the campground, and addresses along Big Bar, Isadore, Marriot, Sharptail, Dog Creek, Lake and Meadow Lake roads. People under the order must leave immediately. If safe, the stated route is east on Big Bar Road to Highway 97; if that route is unsafe, officials list westbound exits through Meadow Lake or Jesmond. 2

CBC reported the fire at an estimated 4,000 hectares as of 8:00 p.m. PDT Friday. The order covered 131 properties around Big Bar Lake and Meadow Lake; another 63 properties were under an evacuation alert, while 12 properties near South Green Lake were under alert because of the separate Tin Cup Creek fire. 3

Reuters reported at 00:05 PDT that Ukrainian drone attacks killed seven night-shift workers at a Wildberries warehouse in Kotovsk, in Russia’s Tambov region. Tambov Governor Evgeniy Pervyshov said 25 people were injured and that 28 drones were shot down on approach. In a separate incident, falling drone debris started a fire at an oil depot in Noginsk, Moscow region, according to Governor Andrei Vorobyov; he said two people were injured and a nearby maternity hospital was evacuated. These casualty and damage details are statements from regional governors carried by Reuters. 4

Reuters updated its report at 00:14 PDT after a seventh straight night of U.S. strikes on Iranian military sites. It reported that a Kuwaiti desalination plant was hit and that Kuwait International Airport suspended operations amid repeated missile and drone threats. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claimed strikes on a U.S. support centre at Camp Arifjan and a radar facility at Ali Al Salem Air Base, while Iranian state media reported targets in Bahrain. Reuters said it could not verify those reports. Shipping activity around the Strait of Hormuz also remains disputed: the U.S. said it was enforcing a naval blockade, while Iran said it targeted vessels that violated its navigation rules. 5