A state of emergency remains in place across British Columbia as threatening wildfires force thousands of residents to evacuate from homes in the Okanagan in the southern Interior and elsewhere in the province.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canadians are “watching in horror the images of apocalyptic devastation” as wildfires rage in British Columbia and the Northwest Territories.
He says the federal government is closely monitoring the fires in Kelowna and Yellowknife, adding that members of the Canadian Armed Forces have been deployed to B.C.
Trudeau says wildfires will be a main topic at this week’s Liberal cabinet retreat in Charlottetown.
He says the federal government is also hosting an Incident Response Group meeting this afternoon in P.E.I. to make sure Ottawa doing everything necessary to keep people safe and co-ordinate with provinces.
Trudeau says federal Emergency Preparedness Minister Harjit Sajjan will be attending that meeting virtually from B.C., where he is leading the federal efforts for the province.
This morning, BC Wildfire Service says crews were working overnight to control the Bush Creek East blaze in Columbia Shuswap in the southern Interior.
That blaze, which is now about 410 square kilometres in size, merged and encompassed the Adams Lake wildfire this weekend.
The service says in a post on social media that, as of 11 p.m. Sunday, weather systems were influenced by tropical storm Hilary, over Southern California.
It says winds are expected to reach 20 kilometres per hour today, with gusts up to 40.
The service says while there is an ongoing potential for extreme fire behaviour, crews are getting assistance from smoke cover, which is helping tame fires and are hoping the forecast that calls for two to three millimetres of rain brings much-needed help.
