Canada puts the military on standby as British Columbia wildfires kill 1 and displace thousands

10 hours ago 5

Canada put its military on standby Monday to help battle deadly wildfires in British Columbia as a local mayor warned that one of the blazes had wreaked huge destruction on his community. A woman has died and some 20,000 people have fled their homes.

For days, scores of wildfires have burned across the province, nearly half of them out of control in hot, windy weather and prolonged drought. Thousands have fled on jammed roads as officials said even more communities could be threatened.

The mayor of Summerland — home to about 12,000 people, which was ordered evacuated on Saturday night along with about 8,000 people in and around nearby Peachland — warned that the affected areas remained too dangerous to enter and that it was impossible to determine the scope of the destruction.

The blaze, known as the Bald Range wildfire, remained out of control after racing toward Summerland and other communities along Okanagan Lake over the weekend.

“We need to brace ourselves for that bad news when it’s time to go back. Everybody will know somebody who has lost a home,” Summerland Mayor Doug Holmes said.