Canada.- The drop in temperatures is allowing firefighting teams to control the flames that threatened two towns in western Canada and allow some of those evacuated in recent days to return to their homes.
Some of the evacuees from the towns of Kelowna West and Kelowna will be able to return to their homes on Monday afternoon, according to the authorities in the province of British Columbia, where there are 380 active forest fires.
The seriousness of the situation forced the provincial authorities to declare a state of emergency on Friday and order the evacuation of 35,000 people, mostly from the center of the province.
In southern British Columbia, the problem now is the dense smoke that covers large areas and has forced authorities to issue air quality alerts in places like the city of Vancouver, one of the largest in the country.
Meanwhile, in the city of Yellowknife, in the extreme north of Canada, the authorities fear that the fire that forced the evacuation of its 20,000 inhabitants last week will regain strength with the expected rise in temperatures in the coming hours.
In recent days, firefighting crews, including 400 members of the military dispatched by federal authorities, have worked to create firebreaks around Yellowknife to make it harder for the fire to spread.
Despite improving conditions, the latest official figures indicate that there are still 1,040 active wildfires across Canada, down 12 from Sunday.
This year, the flames have consumed 150,000 square kilometers of forest, 7.5 times more than the annual average of the last decade and an area equivalent to the territory of Tunisia.
