Western Canada wildfires force tens of thousands to flee

KELOWNA: Officials in western CanadaBritish Columbia urged tens of thousands of residents to heed an evacuation order on Saturday as “rapidly progressing” wildfires threatened much of the scenic area. Okanagan Valleyincluding the city of Kelowna.
Bowinn Ma, head of the province’s emergency management department, said the situation in the popular hiking and boating destination was “very dynamic”.
She said about 30,000 people had been ordered to evacuate while another 36,000 were on alert ready to flee.
“We cannot stress enough how important it is to follow evacuation orders when they are issued,” Ma said at an afternoon news conference.
“They are a matter of life and death not only for the people staying in those properties but also for the first responders, who often come back to try to beg people to leave.”
Kelowna, a city of 150,000 people, was engulfed in thick smoke as it became the latest population center to suffer one of many wildfires to burn Canada this summer.
British Columbia alone had 385 active wildfires on Saturday night, according to government data.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he spoke with British Columbia Premier David Eby about “the rapidly evolving and devastating wildfire situation” and pledged federal resources to respond to the disaster. disaster.
Meanwhile, fires in the neighboring Northwest Territories have forced the evacuation of the regional capital Yellowknife, turning the remote city of about 20,000 people largely into a ghost town.
Northwest Territories Environment Minister Shane Thompson warned overnight rains brought some relief to Yellowknife on Saturday, however, “a light rain does not mean it is safe to return home”. .
“While the surface may not catch fire, it’s still active and huge,” he told a news conference on Saturday night, noting that temperatures are expected to rise again on Sunday. Japan.
Yellowknife official Chris Greencorn praised the work the teams were doing to build defenses around the city, with large areas cleared to create fire suppression points and lay pipelines. for sprinklers and water cannons.
“Basically, this represents about two full seasons of Yellowknife construction completed in less than six days,” he said.
The exodus from Yellowknife and elsewhere means that two-thirds of the territory’s population near the Arctic has been displaced, Thompson said.
The fires have caused “terrible damage,” Prime Minister Trudeau told reporters after meeting evacuees in Yellowknife on Friday as they arrived in Edmonton, Alberta, not knowing when they might return home. .
In British Columbia, fires destroyed several properties in West Kelownaamong them is the Okanagan Lake Resort, according to local media.
The historic hotel is known for hosting famous guests such as British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
“It’s clear that this event will leave a lasting scar on our community,” West Kelowna Fire Chief Jason Brolund said at a news conference Saturday.
The day before, he said, was “one of the toughest firefighting days our department has ever faced.”
Eby announced on Saturday an emergency order halting non-essential visits to the area.
The ban prohibits travelers from checking into hotels and other temporary accommodations, including Kelowna and the nearby towns of Kamloops, Oliver, Penticton and Vernon as well as Osoyoos near the US border.
“If you are currently in these areas, we ask that you voluntarily check out early and free up those spaces for evacuees and responders,” Ma said.
Firefighters from Australia, Mexico, Brazil and Costa Rica, as well as eastern Canada, are assisting British Columbia in extinguishing the fires.
Across the US border, thousands of people have been forced to flee the wildfires in Washington state, with at least one death, local media reported.
Authorities said an evacuation was underway for Medical Lake, a town outside Spokane next to a US Air Force base, while a section of the vital I-90 highway was closed. close the door.
Canada is experiencing a record-breaking wildfire season, with an official estimate that more than 14 million hectares (34.6 million acres) have burned — roughly the size of Greece and nearly twice the area of ​​the record. previous record of 7.3 million hectares. Four people have died so far.
Human-caused global warming is exacerbating natural hazards, making them more frequent and more deadly, scientists say.
ClockColumbia City of Kelowna battles intense wildfires with evacuation underway