West Kelowna Fire Chief Jason Broland said Sunday’s work in the Okanagan Lake region offered “a glimmer of hope” for the area that is usually a popular summer vacation destination.
More than 1,200 miles (2,000 kilometers) away, firefighters battled blazes stalking Yellowknife, the capital of the Northwest Territories. The fire continued some 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the city, which was left virtually empty as nearly all of its 20,000 residents fled.
“Even as things were drying out and fire behavior was increasing, we were able to do a good job of suppression from the air and limit the advance,” Mike Westwick, fire information officer, said Sunday.
Wildfires in Canada have reached a record high this year, spewing clouds of smoke that have reached as far as the United States. In total there have been more than 5,700 fires that have burned more than 53,000 square miles (137,000 square kilometers) from one end of Canada to the other, according to the Canadian Center for Forest Care.
Hundreds of fires are still burning in British Columbia and 35,000 people received evacuation orders on Sunday.
“It’s still a very dynamic fire,” said Jerrad Schroeder, British Columbia’s fire chief. “There are still parts of this fire that we haven’t prioritized.”
Even when evacuees return, “they probably won’t have anything,” Broland said.
“Some of you have lost your homes, there is no doubt about that,” he said. “There are backyards where the fire reached the furniture. And he stopped there because of the work of the 500 people who are in the place fighting him ”.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the approval of the federal aid request for British Columbia.
“There are people who are running for their lives. It is concerned for their communities, and Canadians from one coast to the other are watching in horror at images of apocalyptic devastation,” Trudeau told a news conference Monday in Cornwall on Prince Edward Island.
Trudeau is scheduled to meet with cabinet ministers on Monday to discuss fighting the fires.
In a Facebook post, Yellowknife officials said they were working to erect fire barriers around the city and to use sprinklers, water cannons and retardants dropped from small planes. Firefighters managed to erect a 25-kilometre (15.5 mi) barrier.
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Haigh reported from Norwich, Connecticut.
FOUNTAIN: Associated Press
