Canada wildfires cause tens of thousands to flee as inferno stretches into Washington
Kelowna, Canada - Officials in western Canada's British Columbia implored tens of thousands of residents to heed evacuation orders Saturday as "rapidly evolving" wildfires threatened large parts of Okanagan Valley, including the city of Kelowna.
The situation in the popular boating and hiking destination was "highly dynamic," said Bowinn Ma, the province's minister of emergency management.
Around 30,000 people were under evacuation orders while another 36,000 were under alert to be ready to flee, she said.
"We cannot stress strongly enough how critical 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 in those properties but also for the first responders who will often go back to try to implore people to leave."
Kelowna, a city of 150,000, was choked with thick smoke as it became the latest population center hit by one of the many wildfires scorching Canada this summer.
British Columbia alone had 385 active wildfires by late Saturday night, according to government data.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he had spoken with British Columbia Premier David Eby about the "rapidly evolving and incredibly devastating wildfire situation" and pledged federal resources in responding to the disaster.
Yellowknife reduced to ghost town after mass evacuation
Blazes in the neighboring Northwest Territories have meanwhile prompted the evacuation of regional capital Yellowknife, leaving the remote city of around 20,000 largely a ghost town.
Overnight rains brought some relief to Yellowknife on Saturday, however, "a little rain does not mean it's safe to come back home," warned Northwest Territories environment minister Shane Thompson.
"Though the surface may not show fire, it's still active and it's huge," he said at a Saturday evening news conference, noting that temperatures are expected to rise again Sunday.
Yellowknife official Chris Greencorn praised the work crews were doing to build defenses around the city, with large areas cleared to create firebreaks and pipes laid for sprinklers and water cannon.
"Basically this represents approximately two full Yellowknife construction seasons completed in less than six days," he said.
The exodus from Yellowknife and elsewhere means two-thirds of the near-Arctic territory's population has been displaced, Thompson said.
The fires have caused "terrible loss," Trudeau told reporters after meeting Yellowknife evacuees Friday as they arrived in Edmonton, Alberta, with no idea when they may return home.
Canada wildfires break records
Firefighters from Australia, Mexico, Brazil, and Costa Rica, as well as eastern Canada, are assisting British Columbia to combat the blazes.
Across the border in the US, several thousand people were forced to flee wildfires in Washington state, with at least one death reported, local media said.
An evacuation was ordered 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, authorities said.
Canada is experiencing a record-setting wildfire season, with official estimates of more than 34.6 million acres already burned – roughly the size of Greece and almost twice the area of the last record. Four people have died so far.
Scientists say human-caused global warming is significantly increasing natural hazards, making them both more frequent and more deadly.
Cover photo: REUTERS