Canada's western province declares 'emergency' state amid devastating wildfires

Canada's western province of British Columbia has declared a "state of emergency" as devastating wildfires continue to rage in the hills and mountains, forcing thousands of evacuations.

British Columbia Premier David Eby announced the declaration at a news conference on Friday, following a challenging 24 hours of fast-spreading wildfires.

"We are facing the worst wildfire season in our province's history," Eby underlined in a press briefing. "This unprecedented situation has come to a head this evening. In just the last 24 hours, the situation has evolved and deteriorated quite rapidly." 

“We are declaring a provincial state of emergency to ensure we have access to any tools that we may need to respond to this situation," he then added.

Eby further described the situation as “unpredictable” insisting that “there are certainly difficult days ahead.”

The province has gone from about 4,500 people being under an evacuation order to about 15,000 people in the past 24 hours. An additional 20,000 people are under an evacuation alert.

“Some are choosing to shelter in place. If you are still in Yellowknife and you are not essential to the emergency response, please evacuate,” Territories' environment and Communities Minister Shane Thompson said.

More than 2,400 properties were evacuated earlier in West Kelowna, officials said, and several structures were destroyed during the night.

“We fought hard last night to protect our community,” Jason Brolund, West Kelowna fire chief, told reporters earlier.

The fire is about 15 km (9 miles) northwest of the city. Fires have been burning on either side of the only highway out of town, which remained open.

The development comes as experts say climate change has exacerbated the wildfire problem.

The expansion of the wildfires signs this year’s worst-on-record Canadian wildfire season, with more than 1,000 active fires burning across the country.

SS