Home Breaking Fires spread to western Canada where thousands continue to evacuate

Fires spread to western Canada where thousands continue to evacuate

20.08.2023

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With the very rapid progression of the flames, two large fires have merged in British Columbia, in western Canada, local authorities announced on Sunday, while thousands of residents continue to evacuate the area.

The blaze resulting from this merger, located in the Shuswap region 500 km northeast of Vancouver, now covers more than 41,000 hectares, according to British Columbia firefighters.

“Fire soldiers are working to stop the progression of flames towards structures in areas where they continue to actively advance through woods and grasslands,” they said on X (ex-Twitter).

The north winds favored the spread of these fires which destroyed several buildings in this tourist region.

Throughout the province, in a state of emergency, about 30,000 people have received an evacuation order and 36,000 others are on alert and ready to flee, local authorities said on Saturday evening.

The city of Kelowna, about 150,000 inhabitants, 150 km south of Shuswap, where thousands of people had to evacuate, is still suffocated by thick smoke.

“We stress the absolute importance of immediately following evacuation orders,” said Bowinn Ma, emergency manager for the province of British Columbia, Saturday evening.

“It is a matter of life and death for the people who are in these properties, but also for the relief workers who are sometimes forced to come back and ask people to leave,” she added.

The fires also affect northern Canada, including the capital of the Northwest Territories, Yellowknife, surrounded by fires for several days, where nearly all of the 20,000 inhabitants had to evacuate.

After some respite on Saturday, thanks to the rains of the previous night which caused a sharp drop in temperatures, they are expected to rise again on Sunday according to the authorities.

“Although the fire is not visible on the surface, it is active and huge,” Northwest Territories Environment Minister Shane Thompson said Saturday evening.

Canada has been confronted in recent years with extreme weather events, the intensity and frequency of which have been increased by climate change.

The country is experiencing a record-breaking forest fire season this year: 14 million hectares – about the size of Greece – have burned, double the last record dating back to 1989.