Ottawa: Authorities in Canada’s British Columbia (BC) province have declared a state of emergency as a fast-moving wildfire is threatening to destroy more homes in the area around the city of West Kelowna, the media reported on Saturday.
In a series of tweets late Friday night, British Colombia premier David Eby said: “This year, we’re facing the worst wildfire season ever. Over the past 24 hrs, the situation has evolved rapidly and we are in for an extremely challenging situation in the days ahead. Given these fast-moving conditions, we are declaring a provincial state of emergency.
“A provincial state of emergency allows the Province to enact emergency orders. Emergency orders could include travel restrictions to specific areas if people do not respect our calls to avoid non-essential travel to the central Interior and southeastern BC.
“We’re calling on all British Columbians to be alert, listen to local officials and follow evacuation orders. We will get through this together.”
The declaration comes as the McDougall Creek wildfire grew from 64 to 6,800 hectares in just 24 hours as of Friday.
Some 4,800 people are now under evacuation orders.
Earlier on Friday, West Kelowna fire chief Jason Brolund described the wildfire as “devastating”.
“We fought hard last night to protect our community. We fought 100 years worth of fires all in one night,” the BBC quoted Brolund as saying.
Local officials have already reported “significant structural loss” in the area, including in Trader’s Cove, just north of West Kelowna.
No deaths have been reported so far.
As a result of the growing blaze, the airspace around Kelowna International Airport has been closed to everything other than aerial firefighters.
Separately, about 22,000 people — or roughly half the population — have been displaced in Canada’s Northwest Territories due to another huge wildfire.
An official deadline to evacuate Yellowknife, the capital of Canada’s federal territory, has now lapsed, reports the BBC.
Residents have been scrambling to leave by air and road, in an effort to escape a wildfire moving towards the outskirts of the city.
The grim developments come as nearly 1,100 active fires are burning across the country.
(IANS)
