Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
A deadly wildfire in western Canada grew overnight even without strong winds, forcing about 20,000 people to flee and making it harder for authorities to contain the blaze and fully assess the damage. Officials said around 100 firefighters from Mexico were on their way to help battle the fire in British Columbia.
The blaze has killed an 80-year-old woman and destroyed homes and other properties near Okanagan Lake. It has also spread towards Summerland, a community of about 12,000 people roughly 300 km east of Vancouver. Beyond those already evacuated, another 10,000 people have been told to be ready to leave at short notice, while officials have arranged accommodation for evacuees and sought more federal help.
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Cliff Chapman, director of provincial operations for the British Columbia Wildfire Service, said the fire showed “quite significant growth” in some areas overnight despite the lack of strong winds. He said crews were working round the clock to establish control lines and make it safe for evacuated residents to return home.
“We recognised and we heard even last night that people obviously would like to go home. They would like to see the extent of the damage,” Chapman said.
Kevin Dunbar, British Columbia’s executive director for emergency response and recovery operations, described it as one of the largest evacuations in recent provincial history. Officials said they had secured 1,600 hotel rooms and 1,000 group-lodging spaces for evacuees in Okanagan after some residents faced delays in getting emergency assistance during the weekend evacuation.
More than 100 wildfires were burning across British Columbia, and officials warned that dry lightning could trigger new blazes in the Central Interior and Okanagan. The province also asked the federal government for help in expanding lodging for evacuees.
The RCMP are investigating whether criminal activity played a role in the fire. Chapman said about 4 per cent of wildfires in British Columbia over the past decade were suspected to have been deliberately set, but officials have not said the Bald Range fire was intentionally started.
Among those displaced were Lucille and Gordon Beach of Summerland, who were in Vancouver for the weekend wedding of a granddaughter when they learnt the fire had started. “We didn’t feel too celebratory,” Lucille Beach said on Tuesday.
The couple are staying for now in West Kelowna with their dog and have not seen their home since leaving on Friday, though they believe it is safe. Lucille Beach said it took a few days to adjust to the reality of what was happening.
Carmen Bodzasy, who recently moved to Summerland with her husband, said she had to evacuate using unfamiliar roads while he was away for work. Before leaving, “I cried my eyes out for a minute, and I thought, you know what, if I had to restart over, what would I take with me?” she said. She carried photos of her parents’ wedding, of her children’s families and of herself and her husband. “I thought if I didn’t have walls to go home to, at least I have memories to put up on my new one,” she said.
Holding her small dog on Tuesday, Bodzasy said she did not know the condition of their home, but added that she planned to remain in Summerland. “I’ll do whatever I can to help that town rebuild because everybody’s so kind there,” she said, describing it as a place where people wave at passing motorists and stop to ask how you are doing.
Elsewhere in the West, firefighters in California on Tuesday were tackling the Timber Fire, which has burned roughly 8 sq km in the Big Sur region along the state’s central coast. State parks in the area were closed and evacuation orders were in place, including for a roughly 11-km stretch of Highway 1, though California Highway Patrol spokesperson Ryan Moore said the highway was open on Tuesday morning. Authorities said the fire had held east of the highway.
The wildfires in British Columbia and California have triggered evacuations, damaged property and stretched emergency response efforts, with officials in Canada continuing to focus on containment, shelter and the safe return of residents.
With PTI Inputs
– Ends
SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
