Canada's British Columbia wildfires threaten 8,000 people as hot, dry weather returns

Canada's British Columbia (BC) province's wildfire potential is expected to increase as hot and dry conditions return to most of the province, the BC Wildfire Service said in a provincial update Tuesday.

Winds are forecast to stay light across much of the province, though localized variability could allow smoke to linger and become more visible in southern areas, said the update. It added that the changing weather may also expose holdover fires -- lightning-caused blazes that smolder undetected until hotter, drier and windier conditions make them more visible.

The service's dashboard showed 120 active wildfires provincewide, with five sparked in the last 24 hours. Thirteen were declared out in the same period and 101 in the last week, according to the update.

"As of 9 a.m. this morning, there are 37 evacuation orders impacting approximately 8,000 people and 7,300 properties, and 37 evacuation alerts impacting approximately 7,100 people and 3,800 properties," said BC Minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness, Kelly Greene, at a virtual news conference. "The orders and alerts over the past few days have been changing hourly."

Greene also said that "one of British Columbia's greatest strengths is how people come together in times of need," and that "it's understandable that people want to do everything that they can to protect their homes, but during an evacuation order, the single most important thing you can do is leave immediately."

BC Minister of Forests Ravi Parmar also said during the news conference that "international personnel are arriving this week, including from Mexico yesterday afternoon, and Australian crews will also join in supporting our efforts as well."

"We have firefighting personnel from Alberta, Quebec, Prince Edward Island, Yukon, including the Canadian Forest Service," he added.

Among the areas affected, public broadcaster CBC reported that Okanagan Indian Band Chief Dan Wilson described the fire in his community as "one of the most devastating events in our history."

Wilson said an aerial survey with the BC Wildfire Service suggested the band may have lost up to 30 homes, with another 200 non-band homes also possibly destroyed, said the report.