The situation is dire in West Kelowna, British Columbia – Authorities have asked several thousand people to evacuate their homes or be on the lookout.
15,000 households have been ordered to evacuate in British Columbia, Canada. Firefighters for another day are fighting the hundreds of fire fronts that surround the province, which has been declared in a state of emergency.
Authorities have said a “significant number” of homes have burned in the city of West Kelowna, which has a population of 36,000. The evacuation of 2,400 homes has been requested in the city.
In just one hour, the number of households to be evacuated jumped from 4,000 to 15,000, with another 20,000 households on standby. No deaths have been reported. The situation has deteriorated sharply, the fire department admits, and will remain bad for the next few days.
There is still the possibility that emergency instructions will be issued to avoid travel to the areas at risk unless there is a real reason.
The situation is dire in West Kelowna, British Columbia – Authorities have asked several thousand people to evacuate their homes or be on the lookout.
15,000 households have been ordered to evacuate in British Columbia, Canada. Firefighters for another day are fighting the hundreds of fire fronts that surround the province, which has been declared in a state of emergency.
Authorities have said a “significant number” of homes have burned in the city of West Kelowna, which has a population of 36,000. The evacuation of 2,400 homes has been requested in the city.
In just one hour, the number of households to be evacuated jumped from 4,000 to 15,000, with another 20,000 households on standby. No deaths have been reported. The situation has deteriorated sharply, the fire department admits, and will remain bad for the next few days.
There is still the possibility that emergency instructions will be issued to avoid travel to the areas at risk unless there is a real reason.
Meanwhile, huge fronts are also approaching Yellowknife, hundreds of kilometers to the north. The city had been almost completely evacuated by midday Friday, with authorities saying everyone had left by car or plane. About 1,000 people have remained in the city, but they too have been urged to leave unless they have a role to play in the rescue services.
Canada is facing its worst fire summer ever. At the moment, around 1,000 fronts are burning in the country. Many are out of control, others burn for days if not weeks while many threaten residential areas.
The hot and dry summer, also due to climate change, has significantly worsened the conditions in the forests.
