Western Canada declared a state of emergency on Friday in the face of the worsening crisis caused by hundreds of forest fires that have forced the evacuation of thousands of people in the last few hours.
David Elby, the Premier of the Province of british columbiain the far west of the country, announced the declaration of a state of emergency at a press conference held on Friday night in which he urged the population to comply with evacuation orders.
The authorities made the decision to declare a state of emergency when the growth of several fires made it necessary to order the evacuation of 15,000 people. In addition, another 20,000 have been warned that at any moment they may have to leave their homes.
This Friday, the province had 388 forest fires active but it is feared that the situation will worsen in the next few hours due to weather conditions. Throughout Canada, which suffers its worst season of forest fires1,052 fires are active.
The most serious fire is the one that affects the populations of West Kelowna y Kelownaabout 300 kilometers east of Vancouver and with a combined population of more than 160,000 people.