Mass evacuation from fires in Canada’s Kelowna

The severe wildfires in Canada have now forced a total of about 30,000 residents from their homes in western Canada.

Already earlier, 20,000 have been evacuated from the city of Yellowknife in central Canada.

The latest evacuation took place mainly in British Columbia and the city of Kelowna.

– The situation is changing rapidly, but currently the evacuation decision applies to 30,000 residents. Another 36,000 residents are on preparedness for evacuation, says Bowinn Ma who is responsible minister of the territory of British Columbia.

The fires also remain severe near the city of Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories. In total, 20,000 are estimated to have evacuated the area, which is almost all residents. For several days, planes have been shuttling, while roads to the west have suffered from long queues as residents sought to leave the fire area.

Many refugees turned to campsites in safe areas to camp temporarily until the danger is over.

Additional parts of Canada and the northern United States are affected by fires – over one thousand in Canada where many are far from being contained.