By: Thomas I. Likness
Eagle News Service

(Eagle News) — The wildfire situation in the Canadian province of British Colombia is so severe the province’s premier has declared a provincewide state of emergency.

“In just the last hour, we’ve gone from about 4,500 homes under evacuation to about 15,000 homes, families being evacuated from their homes across the province,” Premier David Eby told a news conference Friday.

“We are facing the worst wildfire season in the province’s history,” he said.

Emergency Management Minister Bowinn Ma says the declaration will ensure firefighters can get what they need to battle flames.

She says the emergency declaration means the province can compel resources from uncooperative partners, adding so far cooperation has been excellent.

“But given the rapidly evolving situation that we now find ourselves in, we can foresee some of those extraordinary orders that may be helpful to us in our response and we want to be ready to be able to use them at a moment’s notice,” said Ma.

In southern B.C, the inferno has destroyed several homes and other buildings in the city of West Kelowna.

And there’s bad news in this weekend’s weather forecast for the region — more lightning is expected, along with temperatures in the mid-to-high 20s Celsius.

Across B.C, there are 380 wildfires burning, 160 out of control.

Evacuation of Canada’s largest northern city nearly complete

Meanwhile in northern Canada, the evacuation of Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories is nearly complete.

Most of the city’s 20,000 residents have left the territorial capital.

Only about 1,600 people remain in the city and they are being urged to leave.

Mayor Rebecca Alty says even if the flames don’t reach the city the air quality from the smoke is so bad people put themselves at risk if they remain.

On Friday, cooler temperatures helped crews to hold the fire at bay.

The blaze is about 15 kilometers from the city limits.
(Eagle News Service)