20,000 people evacuated in Canada due to wildfires

Over the past day, about 20,000 people have been evacuated in western Canada due to rapidly spreading wildfires.

As 1news.az reports citing CNN, residents of the cities of Summerland and Peachland (British Columbia province) were forced to urgently leave their homes, as the fire was already approaching residential neighborhoods.

Due to hot and windy weather in areas covered with dense forests, the fire is spreading at high speed. According to authorities, in one of the areas the wildfire engulfed an area of about 50 square kilometers within a few hours. Local residents report that on August 8 the fire came so close to residential areas that ash from burning trees began to settle on cars and houses.

The natural disaster led the authorities of British Columbia to declare a state of emergency in the province on August 8. By the morning of August 9, the area of the wildfires had already reached nearly 100 square kilometers.

Under Canadian law, the introduction of a state of emergency gives the province's regional government immediate access to special powers, including restrictions on the movement of people and the protection of supplies of goods to prevent price gouging, as well as emergency powers to coordinate rescue operations.