KELOWNA, Canada: Thousands are fleeing as wildfires threatened large swathes of land in Okanagan Valley including Kelowna city.
Nearly 30,000 people have been ordered to evacuate and another 36,000 are alerted to be prepared.
“The situation is very tense as many lives are stakes and people who ask people to leave also risk their lives,” said an official.
Kelowna with 150,000 residents is engulfed in thick smoke as it became the latest center to get affected in the summer which has left millions of acres burnt.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he had spoken with British Columbia Premier David Eby about the evolving wildfires and promised and pledged federal resources to responding to the calamity.
Northwest Territories fires resulted in evacuation from the capital Yellowknife, leaving it as a ghost town that was once inhabited by 20,000.
Northwest Territories environment minister Shane Thompson on social media site X, state the evacuation was ordered on Wednesday and most people left town.
The firefighters and essential crew stay in the city along with water bombers and the military that are putting defences in the city.
The prompt advisory of fire alert resulted in successful evacuation from several towns and indigenous tribes.
Yellowknife getting scorched also means people near Arctic territory are not there anymore. has been displaced.
