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WEST KELOWNA, British Columbia (AP) — About 100 firefighters from Mexico were expected to arrive Tuesday to help fight a deadly wildfire that has forced 20,000 people to flee and destroyed homes and other properties near Okanagan Lake in Western Canada, officials said.
The fire has killed an 80-year-old woman and burned toward Summerland, a community of about 12,000 people roughly 300 kilometers (185 miles) east of Vancouver.
Cliff Chapman, director of provincial operations for the British Columbia Wildfire Service, said crews were working around the clock to establish control lines and make it safe for residents to return. But he said the fire showed “quite significant growth” in some areas overnight even without strong winds.
“We recognized and we heard even last night that people obviously would like to go home. They would like to see the extent of the damage,” Chapman said.
Provincial officials ramp up evacuations
British Columbia officials said they had secured 1,600 hotel rooms and 1,000 group-lodging spaces for evacuees in Okanagan after some residents faced delays getting emergency assistance during the weekend evacuation.
Across the province, evacuation orders affected more than 20,000 people Tuesday, while another 10,000 were told to be ready to leave on short notice. More than 100 wildfires were burning across the province, and officials warned that dry lightning could spark new fires in the Central Interior and Okanagan. The province also asked the federal government for help expanding lodging for evacuees.
Kevin Dunbar, British Columbia’s executive director for emergency response and recovery operations, called it one of the largest evacuations in recent British Columbia history.
RCMP are investigating whether criminal activity played a role in the fire. Chapman said about 4% of wildfires in British Columbia over the past decade were suspected of having been deliberately set, but officials have not said the Bald Range fire was intentionally started.
Evacuated residents recount emotional experience
Lucille and Gordon Beach of Summerland were in Vancouver for the weekend wedding of a granddaughter when they heard the fire had started. “We didn’t feel too celebratory,” Lucille Beach said Tuesday.
The couple, staying for now in West Kelowna with their dog, haven’t seen their home since leaving Friday but believed it was OK. It took a few days to adjust to the reality of what was happening, Lucille Beach said.
Carmen Bodzasy evacuated from Summerland, where she and her husband moved recently. She had to navigate evacuating on unfamiliar roads while he was away for work.
Before leaving, “I cried my eyes out for a minute, and I thought, you know what, if I had to restart over, what would I take with me?” She took photos of her parents’ wedding, of her children’s families and of her and her husband. “I thought if I didn’t have walls to go home to, at least I have memories to put up on my new one,” she said.
Holding her small dog Tuesday, she was not sure of the status of their home but said whatever happens, she intends to stay in Summerland, a place where people wave at passing motorists and stop to ask how you’re doing.
“I’ll do whatever I can to help that town rebuild because everybody’s so kind there,” she said.
Other fires burning in the West
In the U.S., firefighters in California on Tuesday were fighting a blaze that’s burned roughly three square miles (8 square kilometers) in the Big Sur region of the state’s rugged central coast. Area state parks have closed and evacuation orders have been issued, including for a roughly 7-mile (11-kilometer) stretch of Highway 1, the state’s iconic coastal route. The highway was open as of Tuesday morning, California Highway Patrol spokesperson Ryan Moore said.
The Timber Fire has held east of the highway, authorities said.
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