PENTICTON, British Columbia (AP) — About 100 firefighters from Mexico were expected to arrive Tuesday to help battle 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 156-square-kilometer (60-square-mile) 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.
Hugh Murdoch of the British Columbia Wildfire Service said crews face a “monumental task” in steep terrain and hot conditions, with burning embers igniting new fires beyond the main perimeter and limiting opportunities for firefighters to attack the blaze directly.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police have opened a criminal investigation into the cause of the fire, which broke out Friday. The woman died in Meadow Valley, west of Summerland, while trying to escape, authorities said.
The fire has destroyed numerous homes, but officials said dangerous conditions have prevented crews from completing damage assessments.
Summerland Mayor Doug Holmes warned Monday that the town’s roughly 12,000 residents should not expect to return home soon.
“We need to brace ourselves for what’s there or what’s not there,” Holmes said at a briefing, his voice breaking. “It’s going to be hard. It’s going to be really hard. We all know people who have lost homes. And those people need our help.”
About 100 wildfires were burning across British Columbia, roughly half of them out of control. The British Columbia Wildfire Service also warned of a high risk of new lightning-caused fires in the province’s central Interior and Okanagan region.
