Image Credit: FACEBOOK/Joner Velano
Officials in western Canada say they’ve been making progress in their fight against fires raging in many parts of the country. However, they say the fight is still far from over.
Right now, British Columbia remains in a state of emergency as Canada experiences its worst wildfire season on record.
West Kelowna has been devastated with thousands being forced to flee their homes.
But there is some hope as the regional district of Central Okanagan provided an update on the situation on Monday.
The B.C. wildfire service said the past 24 hours have been favourable for firefighting, and that the coming 24 hours looks favourable as well.
“Looking at the weather here in the next couple days, we are expecting to see more seasonal temperatures in the mid-twenties. The humidity will be working in our favour, and that will continue today. We will see some winds shift southerly into today and tomorrow, in a fashion that we’re not expecting any rapid increases in fire behaviour or spread on any of these fires.”
More than 380 blazes are active in the NWT right now and about 140,000 square kilometres of land have already burned.
At last update, the wildfire had been mapped at about 167,000 hectares in size — about 1,670 square kilometres burned — and it was about 15 kilometres west of the city. Rain that fell Saturday helped keep it in check temporarily.
Firefighters from Alberta and Yukon are assisting BC crews.
On Monday, the City of Edmonton said more than 4,300 evacuees and about 350 pets are registered at the Expo centre.
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