Thousands of people were evacuated from West Kelowna, a city of 36,000 people 300 kilometers east of Vancouver. People were also evacuated from the nearby city of Kelowna.
“This year we are experiencing the worst wildfire season in British Columbia history,” he said Friday. “In the past 24 hours, the situation has changed rapidly and deteriorated very quickly. The situation is unpredictable and we certainly have some difficult days ahead of us.”
On Friday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau paid tribute to a firefighter who was killed fighting a wildfire in British Columbia.
The Canadian province has requested an additional 1,000 international firefighters. About 2000 firefighters are currently fighting more than 350 wildfires.