Canadian town under threat as wildfire crosses over from US

An evacuation order for the Canadian town of Osoyoos and its surrounding district in the province of British Columbia had been issued late on Saturday night due to an out-of-control wildfire that has crossed the border from the US state of Washington.The wildfire, called Eagle Bluff, is approximately 4km (2.49 miles) from Osoyoos and is currently estimated to be 885 hectares (2,200 acres) in size on the Canadian side of the border, according to the British Columbia Wildfire Service.It was estimated to be around 2,000 hectares in size on the US side by the BC Wildfire Service.Osoyoos has an area population of about 6,700, according to an Osoyoos economic development website."There are Initial Attack crew personnel, several single resources, two helicopters, structure protection personnel and heavy equipment responding to the incident,” BC Wildfire Service said yesterday.The evacuation order covers the area north of the Canada-United States border to the intersection of Highway 97 and Highway 3, as well as west and north along Highway 3.British Columbia’s premier announced on Saturday that a firefighter has died battling one of the massive blazes devastating Canada’s forests this year.It marked the third death of a firefighter during this devastating wildfire season."I am devastated to learn that we have lost another wildfire fighter. My heart goes out to the family, friends and colleagues of this frontline hero,” Premier David Eby said in a statement.He did not identify the contract firefighter, but authorities said the victim was at the Donnie Creek wildfire, near Fort St John, in the northeast of the province.Two other firefighters have perished in separate operations this month, and a fourth person, a helicopter pilot, died July 19 when his aircraft crashed in Alberta, in western Canada, while taking part in relief operations.Canadian wildfires have burned 30mn acres (12mn hectares) this year, scorching an area larger than the size of Cuba or South Korea."This wildfire season has been profoundly awful,” Eby said, who hailed firefighters as heroes making "extraordinary sacrifices ... to keep us safe”.British Columbia currently has 368 active fires.In total, more than 990 fires are ravaging Canada, 613 of which are considered out of control.Canada’s geographic location means that it is warming faster than the rest of the planet, and in recent years it has been confronted with extreme weather events that have grown more frequent and intense by climate change.