At least 1,000 evacuated as fires engulf Canadian towns

At least 1,000 people were evacuated in western Canada as several towns including British Columbia reels with a raging fire caused by the record-smashing heat waves, AFP reported quoting authorities. The province of British Columbia has recorded 62 new fires in the past 24 hours, premier John Horgan told a press conference.

“I cannot stress enough how extreme the fire risk is at this time in almost every part of British Columbia,” Horgan said.

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Another town of Lytton, 250 kilometers (155 miles) northeast of Vancouver, “has sustained structural damage and 90% of the village is burned, including the centre of town,” local MP Brad Vis said.

At least 250 residents were evacuated on Wednesday from the town of Lytton. The province witnessed a record high temperature of 49.6 degrees Celsius

“The last 24 hours have been devastating for Lytton residents,” Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan wrote on Twitter. He also added that Candian armed forces will provide assistants to natives as further steps are taken.

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Provincial authorities have not yet announced any injuries or death related to the fires, a number of which were also clustered north of the city of Kamloops, located some 150 kilometers northeast of Lytton.

Environment Canada said in a bulletin issued early Thursday morning for Prince George, BC area that “an exceptionally strong ridge of high pressure over British Columbia will continue to bring record-breaking temperatures over the next couple of days.”

“The duration of this heat wave is concerning as there is little relief at night with elevated overnight temperatures,” it added.

The heatwave continued to move eastward on Thursday into the central Canadian prairies.

In addition to Western Canada, the US states of Washington and Oregon, across the border, have also been sweltering under record temperatures this week and several hundred sudden deaths have been reported.