Wildfire spreads in Western Canada's British Columbia, triggers fresh evacuation

Another wildfire in Canada's western province of British Columbia led to fresh evacuation orders on Friday (August 18). Residents from the north Canadian city of Yellowknife rushed to leave the town before flames could block their exit.

A state of emergency was declared on Friday in Kelowna, it is a city which is some 300 kilometres (180 miles) east of Vancouver. It has a population or about 150,000. The province with a coast on Pacific Ocean province has said that next 24 to 48 hours may be the most difficult.

Some of the hills around the city blazed in the predawn light after wildfires that had been burning since Tuesday jumped Lake Okanagan and spread into parts of Kelowna.

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"Residents under Evacuation Alert are advised to be ready to leave their home at a moment's notice," the city said in a statement. More than 2,400 properties were being evacuated, officials said.

The reach of flames and disruption caused by the wildfires are indicative of severity of this year's chaos. This is worst-on-record Canadian wildfire season.

Some 885 miles (1,425 km) to the northeast, the massive blaze threatening Yellowknife, the Northwest Territories' capital city, made little progress on Thursday, but changing winds meant it could reach the outskirts by the weekend, said Mike Westwick, the territories' fire information officer.

"The next two days are absolutely critical and will be some of the most challenging of the season," he told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp (CBC) early on Friday.

"We're going to be putting everything we have into slowing that progression down. We're going to be throwing aircraft at it, and when it's safe, we're going to be throwing people at it," Westwick said.

Reuters reported that the fire is about 15 km northwest of the city. However, it is expected that changing winds will drive the flames closer. The only highway out of town is open but fires are burning on either side of it.

"Leaving Yellowknife, you're driving into the smoke," said Brent Saulnier, who had been visiting the city from neighboring Alberta. "It is on fire on both sides of the road. ... It's a very surreal experience."

Many still must leave the city of around 20,000 with the deadline for evacuation set at noon local time (1800 GMT).

"The noon deadline doesn't mean that the highway closes at noon," Yellowknife Mayor Rebecca Alty said in an interview with CBC. "We're just really encouraging folks to go as soon as possible. The highway will continue to be open as long as it's safe."

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