Hundreds ordered to evacuate as wildfire burns across Canada-US border
OTTAWA - Hundreds of people in western Canada have been ordered to evacuate due to an out-of-control wildfire burning across Canada-US border, media reported Sunday.
The Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen and the town of Osoyoos issued an evacuation order Saturday evening for 732 properties in and around Osoyoos, 400 km east of Vancouver, reports said.
The wildfire, which originated from the northwestern US state of Washington, is burning about 4 km from Osoyoos in British Columbia's southern Interior.
On the Canadian side of the border, it had grown to 885 hectares as of Sunday morning, while On the US side, the fire had burned more than 4,000 hectares, Washington State wildfire officials were quoted as saying.
On Sunday morning, over 2,000 properties in west Osoyoos were placed on evacuation alert. An evacuation alert means residents should prepare to evacuate their homes, while an evacuation order means residents should leave immediately, the reports said.
Osoyoos Mayor Sue McKortoff urged residents and businesses to reduce water consumption and not to water lawns in order to conserve resources for the firefighting effort.
The Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre said Sunday that there were over 1,000 active wildfires nationwide with over 600 of them out of control.
So far this year, the country has registered over 5,000 wildfires, which have devoured about 126,000 square km of land. - BERNAMA
