The forest fire in British Columbia is the latest in a series of forest fires in Canada. In West Kelowna, several homes are engulfed in flames. On Friday, the British Columbia government declared a state of emergency. There are hundreds of individual fires in the province. Thousands of properties have already been evacuated on the west side of Lake Okanogan, but it may be appropriate to also evacuate areas on the east side of the lake. – Because the fires are so unpredictable, it is important that all residents evacuate for their own safety, but also for the safety of the rescue workers, the local authorities say in a statement, according to the Canadian news channel CTV. There are over 100 wildfires in British Columbia. In the town of Keremeos, you can clearly see the smoke from the fire raging in Crater Creek. Photo: Paige Taylor White / AFP Decisive day Flames and smoke from the fire in West Kelowna should, according to witnesses, be clearly visible in the entire valley around the lake, writes The Guardian. People are asked to stay away from dangerous areas and give way to rescuers. The local authorities say that the next 24 to 48 hours will be difficult. Previously, the airspace over the area was closed to allow firefighting aircraft to arrive. The fire chief in West Kelowna, Jason Brolund, says the fight against the forest fire is tough. – We have fought against fires that correspond to a hundred years of effort in a single night. Evacuation notices have been issued to several thousand people due to the fire raging at Lake Okanogan in Canada. Photo: Darren Hull / AFP Also in Yellowknife, which is the capital of the Northwest Territories, they are fighting against large forest fires. Almost all of the 20,000 inhabitants of the city were evacuated this week. Within 48 hours, they were transported out in motorcades and by military aircraft. The mayor of the city, Rebecca Alty, said on Friday that it is uncertain when residents can return to their homes. In the city of Yellowknife in northern Canada, almost all residents have been evacuated due to a forest fire. Here, the last of them are transported out in military aircraft. Photo: AFP Worst fire season in history Canada is in what appears to be the worst fire season ever, fires have spread quickly to 13 of the provinces and territories in the country. There are currently over 1,000 active fires, several of which are out of control. It is almost twice as much as in the fire season last year, and six times as much as the average for the last ten years. Experts say climate change increases the risk of hot, dry weather that can quickly lead to forest fires. A total of 168,000 people have had to flee from the flames in Canada, where 137,000 square kilometers have been scorched.
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