Canada: evacuations due to forest fires in British Columbia
A forest fire near the village of Lytton in British Columbia, Canada, July 25, 2022. © JENNIFER GAUTHIER/REUTERS
Text by: RFI Follow
1 min
In British Columbia, western Canada, 80 fires are active right now.
One of them threatens a ski resort.
And hundreds of residents have been ordered to leave their homes.
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With our correspondent in Montreal,
Alexis Gacon
Southwest of Pentincton, more than 300 properties have been ordered to evacuate their homes because of the Keremeos Creek Fire, which is now nearly 3,000 acres.
The Apex Mountain ski resort is a few kilometers from the flames, the village uses its snow cannons to diffuse water vapor so that the flames do not come too close.
David Brooke, speaking to CBC News, saw them up close.
The fire reached the top of the hill closest to his home: “
It was foggy, you couldn't really see the sunlight, just an orange glow.
»
Drought and storm
According to provincial authorities, the fire is progressing in areas that are difficult to access.
More than 140 firefighters, a dozen helicopters are mobilized.
The authorities do not want the fires to grow and for this summer
to resemble the previous
one when, during the same period, the fires had carried away 5,000 km² of vegetation.
For now, only 200 km² have gone up in smoke.
But now the drought is there and the lightning, which struck 4,000 times this weekend, is responsible for most of the departures of the last fires.
►Also read: Climate: North America plagued by fires and drought
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