In Canada, more than 12,000 residents remain under an evacuation order due to a wildfire
In the Canadian province of British Columbia, more than 12,000 residents remain under an evacuation order due to the Bald Range wildfire in the Okanagan region. The fire broke out on Friday and spread to 136 square kilometers within a few hours, according to BBC News.
As of Monday, the fire remained out of control. British Columbia authorities were still determining how many homes had been destroyed. Police reported on Sunday that an 80-year-old woman died while trying to evacuate from the fire zone.
British Columbia Premier David Eby declared a state of emergency in the province over the weekend. He urged residents to comply with evacuation orders and warned that the fires were spreading “extremely quickly.”
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Residents of the towns of Peachland and Summerland, located near Lake Okanagan, told the BBC about the rapidly approaching fire. Earl Kurz, a Pitchland resident who has lived there for 30 years, described what he saw as utter scorched devastation. Keegan Radomski, 18, from Summerland, said she managed to retrieve her mother’s ashes from her home before she saw the fire reach her property. She still doesn’t know if her family’s house survived.
The Bald Range fire is one of more than 100 burning in British Columbia as of Monday. Seventy of them started over the past week. Another fire in the Okanagan—the Bradley Creek fire—is believed to have destroyed more than 200 homes, but firefighters managed to contain it.
The Okanagan region has been suffering from severe drought in recent years. According to the Okanagan Basin Water Board, the water level in Okanagan Lake in July was the lowest it has been since 1992.
