Thousands evacuated from wildfires in Canada, western U.S.

Wildfires burning across the western U.S. and Canada on Sunday left some residents keeping a wary eye out for possible evacuation orders while others already forced to flee their homes waited to see what would be left on their return.

In western Canada, over 20,000 people were forced to flee communities in British Columbia over the weekend as a fast-moving wildfire destroyed homes and dozens had to be rescued by aircraft. In the U.S., crews in Washington that have been fighting three wildfires that began burning in the Spokane area for over a week continued clean-up near containment lines.

Later Sunday, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said an 80-year-old woman died while trying to escape the wildfire that forced evacuations in the Okanagan Lake region.

Besides the evacuations in Summerland, the Bald Range fire, first reported Friday evening, has also led to the evacuation of about 8,000 people in and around nearby Peachland. British Columbia declared a state of emergency Saturday.

Crews fighting three wildfires in the Spokane area continued “mop-up operations” on Sunday near containment lines, and none of the fires were growing, according to a news release from the team managing those wildfires. The fires, which have burned over the last week, have damaged or destroyed about 920 structures.

Earlier in the week a man was arrested and charged with intentionally setting the biggest of the three Spokane-area blazes.

Residents in the tiny rural town of Malden, located about 35 miles (55 kilometers) south of Spokane, had been urged Saturday to evacuate immediately. In 2020, Malden was was mostly destroyed by a wildfire, losing its fire station, post office, city hall and library.

In Utah, two helicopter pilots were killed when their aircraft crashed while they were fighting a wildfire Friday morning in the Fishlake National Forest. Crews were finally able to get to the site Saturday to confirm the deaths.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the crash.



(Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)