VANCOUVER – About 1,000 people in western Canada have been evacuated, said authorities yesterday, as fires rage amid an unprecedented heatwave, charring most of at least one town.
The province of British Columbia has recorded another 62 blazes in the past 24 hours, its prime minister, John Horgan, told a press conference.
“I cannot stress enough how extreme the fire risk is at this time in almost every part of British Columbia.”
The town of Lytton, 250km northeast of here, “has sustained structural damage, and 90% of the village is burnt, including the centre of town”, said local lawmaker Brad Vis.
The village’s 250 residents were evacuated on Wednesday evening, a day after it set a jaw-dropping Canadian record high of 49.6°C.
The evacuation order was extended into the night to residents of about 100 properties north of Lytton.
“The last 24 hours have been devastating for Lytton residents,” tweeted Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, adding that the armed forces “are ready to support residents as we move forward in the next steps”.
Provincial authorities have not yet announced any injuries or deaths related to the fires, a number of which were also clustered north of the city of Kamloops, 150km northeast of Lytton.
Yesterday evening, British Columbia fire authorities said the unprecedented hot and dry conditions lead them to expect another difficult day ahead.
Environment Canada in a bulletin issued yesterday morning for the Prince George area said “an exceptionally strong ridge of high pressure over British Columbia will continue to bring record-breaking temperatures over the next couple of days”.
“The duration of this heatwave is concerning, as there is little relief at night with elevated overnight temperatures.”
The heatwave continues to move eastward into central Canadian prairies.
In addition to British Columbia, weather warnings have been issued for the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, parts of the Northwest Territories, and now, northern Ontario.
Washington and Oregon in the United States across the border have also been sweltering under record temperatures this week, with several hundred sudden deaths reported. – AFP, July 2, 2021
