British Columbia declares state of emergency as more than 20,000 flee wildfires
British Columbia declares state of emergency as more than 20,000 flee wildfires
By Paige Taylor White and Nivedita Balu
PENTICTON, British Columbia, Aug 8 (Reuters) – British Columbia declared a state of emergency on Saturday after thousands of people in the western Canadian province were ordered to flee a fast-moving wildfire that nearly doubled in size overnight.
The Bald Range wildfire was burning out of control and grew rapidly to about 9,500 hectares (23,500 acres), prompting evacuation orders in Summerland, Peachland and other districts west of Okanagan Lake in the province’s southern interior. The region produces most of B.C.’s wine and is Canada’s second-largest wine-producing area.
Premier David Eby told a news conference on Saturday that one fire official had likened the fire to “a bomb going off”.
“He described flames on 100-foot tree, flames going 200 feet above that, and the fire creating its own weather system, which creates lightning, which then feeds on itself,” Eby said.
“Homes have been lost, and properties have been destroyed. Some people became trapped as conditions changed very quickly, and needed to be rescued,” the premier said, adding it remained a very dynamic and threatening situation.
Summerland has a population of about 12,000 people, according to the 2021 census, and Peachland is home to about 6,500 residents.
A state of emergency grants the provincial government immediate access to special powers including travel restrictions and supply protections to prevent price gouging, and specific tools to coordinate rescue work.
Officials said the Bald Range wildfire triggered the largest evacuation event so far this summer and more than 20,000 people across B.C. have been forced to evacuate their homes.
“A lot of farms have been affected. We don’t know how many structures have been lost. They’re still busy fighting the fire,” Summerland Mayor Doug Holmes said in a phone interview from Penticton. “We have to brace ourselves for the worst.”
OVERNIGHT EVACUATION
Many residents left overnight, driving south to Penticton or north to Kelowna before highways began to close.
Terry Fries of Summerland was watching a football game on Friday night when a neighbor advised him to get a bag ready as the fire grew.
“At the time, it was still farther back, and you could see it behind the hills,” he said. When B.C. authorities issued the evacuation order around midnight, he and his family drove about 45 km (28 miles) north to the city of Kelowna.
Residents recorded videos of fires by the highway and of structures burning as they evacuated. By Saturday afternoon, ashes began to settle on cars and houses in nearby areas as the fire painted the skies with orange hues.
Summerland lost power on Saturday and issued a boil-water notice for residents. The municipality said untreated water had entered the system after it bypassed the water treatment plant due to the wildfire.
Several Canadian provinces, including Ontario and Quebec, have battled blazes this year as hot, dry weather fueled wildfires in dense forest areas. Firefighters from Mexico, Australia, France and New Zealand have helped combat the fires.
In B.C., where hot and dry conditions have increased the risk of more fires spreading, about 1,500 firefighting personnel were battling more than 100 fires. The province has issued 40 evacuation orders and 49 alerts.
Fires have burned through 4 million hectares (9.9 million acres) in Canada this year, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre.
(Reporting by Paige Taylor White in Penticton, British Columbia and Nivedita Balu and Ryan Patrick Jones in Toronto; Editing by Susan Fenton, Rod Nickel and Nia Williams)
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