British Columbia on high alert over wildfires

Thousands of British Columbia (BC) residents were on high evacuation alert yesterday after rapidly intensifying wildfires forced the Canadian province to declare a state of emergency, while some sections of a key transit route between the Pacific coast and the rest of western Canada were partially closed.
The western Canadian province has experienced strong winds and dry lightning in the past 36 hours due to a cold mass of air interacting with hot air built-up in the sultry summer.
That intensified existing forest fires and ignited new ones.
By Friday, an out-of-control fire in southern BC grew more than one hundredfold in 24 hours and forced more than 2,400 properties to be evacuated.
The fire was centred around Kelowna, a city some 300km (180 miles) east of Vancouver, with a population of about 150,000.
As conditions continued to deteriorate quickly through Friday evening, Premier Daniel Eby declared a province-wide state of emergency to enable access to temporary authoritative powers to tackle fire-related risks.
“This is a historic wildfire season for British Columbia,” he told a briefing.
The fires moved so rapidly on Friday that the number of people under evacuation order went from 4,500 to 15,000 in an hour, while another 20,000 were under evacuation alert.
The province currently accounts for over one-third of Canada’s 1,062 active fires.
“The state of emergency declaration ... communicates to people across the province the seriousness of the deteriorating situation,” the state premier said. “(It) enables a number of legal tools for us to issue specific orders and to ensure that resources are available.”
The flames have already destroyed several structures in West Kelowna and authorities have been warning that the province could potentially face the worst couple of days of the fire season this year.
The TransCanada highway was closed near Chase, around 400km northeast of Vancouver, and between Hope, 150km east of Vancouver, and the village of Lytton.
However, the government’s Drive BC said detours were available.
TransCanada is the main east-west artery used by thousands of motorists and road freight heading to Port of Vancouver, the country’s busiest.
Some 5,000 customers are also without electricity in interior BC due to the fires, the main utility said.
Forest fires are not uncommon in Canada, but the spread of blazes and disruption underscore the severity of its worst wildfire season yet.
The fires have drained local resources and drawn in federal government assistance as well as support from 13 countries.
At least four firefighters have died in the line of duty.
About 140,000sq km (54,054sq miles) of land, roughly the size of New York state, have already burnt, and government officials project the fire season could stretch into autumn due to widespread drought-like conditions in Canada.
The escalation in BC comes as the northern Canadian city of Yellowknife, more than 2,000km (1,200 miles) north, evacuated most of its roughly 20,000 residents due to a large approaching blaze.
People left their homes and property behind on Thursday and Friday to seek refuge in neighbouring provinces due to the threat of the creeping fire cutting off land exits and potentially doing worse harm.
Residents and tourists drove away on roads flanked by fire and smoke, while local and federal authorities flew out some others.
The massive blaze threatening Yellowknife, the Northwest Territories’ capital city, made little headway on Friday as firefighters held it back.
However, strong winds could still blow the blaze toward the city, and it could reach the outskirts this weekend, the territory’s fire service has cautioned.
The blazes have caused “terrible loss”, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters after meeting evacuees from Yellowknife as they arrived in Edmonton, Alberta, with no idea when they may return home.
Martha Kanatsiak, who has lived in Yellowknife for 28 years, arrived late on Friday in the Alberta metropolis of Calgary.
“I’m okay, but I feel sad and depressed and worried. I never saw something like this,” the 59-year-old Inuit retiree told AFP.
Scientists say human-caused global warming is exacerbating natural hazards.