The fires ravaging Canada further gained ground on Sunday, August 20, in the west of the country where two large fires merged while thousands of panicked residents continued their evacuation.
The inferno resulting from this merger, located in the Shuswap region 500 kilometers northeast of Vancouver, now covers more than 41,000 hectares, according to British Columbia firefighters. “Fire fighters are working to stop the progression of flames towards structures in areas where they continue to actively advance through woods and grasslands”, they clarified on Sunday on X (formerly Twitter). The north winds favored the spread of these fires which destroyed several buildings in this tourist region.
The City of Kelownawhich has a population of about 150,000, 150 kilometers south of Shuswap, where thousands of people had to evacuate, is still enveloped in thick, fragrant smoke on Sunday and visible more than 100 kilometers around the city. “It was horrible to spend the week with this air, it’s horrible to breathe”says Mary, 29. Kelowna airport closed to aid the aircraft’s firefighting efforts.
April, 39, who did not wish to give her last name, had to evacuate her home with her two small children and is staying at the hotel she works for as a receptionist in East Kelowna, outside the area under evacuation orders. “When I had to pack, I cried, cried, cried. I was thinking of my family, especially the children., she explained. This mother took with her documents, jewelry and clothes. “This is the first time such a thing has happened to me. It was really sad to leave, to leave our house, I don’t know what will happen but I think our hotel is safe”she confided.
Evacuation orders and state of alert
On the other side of Lake Okanagan, in West Kelowna, a significant number of homes have burned, according to the authorities, who are however optimistic about the fight against the fires, for the first time since Thursday.
“We are four days away, it feels like months, but things are looking up”West Kelowna Fire Chief Jason Brolund announced Sunday. “We finally have the impression of moving forward rather than backward”he pointed out.
Across British Columbia, under a state of emergency, about 30,000 people have been ordered to evacuate and another 36,000 are on high alert and ready to flee, local authorities said.
“Do not travel to areas of the province affected by the fires for sightseeing or for fun”recalled Sunday Bowinn Ma, responsible for emergency situations in the province. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the deployment of “Canadian Armed Forces materiel and resources to support evacuations” and approval of British Columbia’s request for federal assistance.
The north of the country also affected
The fires are also affecting northern Canada, including the capital of the Northwest Territories, Yellowknife, where nearly all of the 20,000 residents have had to evacuate.
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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. “Even if the fire is not visible on the surface, it is active and huge”said Northwest Territories Environment Minister Shane Thompson.
On the other side of the border, in the United States, several thousand people had to flee the forest fires in the state of Washington, where at least one death was reported, according to the authorities.
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 thus experiencing a record-breaking forest fire season this year: 14 million hectares, the size of Greece, have burned, double the last record dating from 1989.