STORY: Wildfires continue to rage in western Canada
DATELINE: Sept. 1, 2023
LENGTH: 0:02:20
LOCATION: Ottawa
CATEGORY: ENVIRONMENT

SHOTLIST:
1. various of wildfires in Canada
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): BOWINN MA, Minister of Emergency Management, Province of British Columbia
4. various of firefighters
3. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): CLIFF CHAPMAN, BC Wildfire Service

STORYLINE:

Wildfires continue to rage in many parts of Canada. In the western provinces of British Columbia and Northwest Territories, both have hundreds of wildfires burning out of control. Severe draught and prolonged unseasonal high temperature are making matters worse for firefighters and evacuees.   

According to the latest fire statistics released by BC Wildfire Service Thursday, there have been nearly twenty new fires in the past 24 hours, most of which are caused by lightning, bringing up the total number of burning wildfires to almost 420.

In a press conference with ministers and officials responsible for wildfire-related matters, BC government says there are over 4,200 families still on evacuation orders, and 65,000 more on evacuation alerts, which means these residents have to leave their homes within three hours if the evacuation alert is elevated to evacuation order.

Bowinn Ma, BC's Emergency Preparedness Minister also announced that the provincial government is extending the province-wide state-of-emergency for another two weeks at a press conference.

SOUNDBITE 1 (English): BOWINN MA, Minister of Emergency Management, Province of British Columbia
"We are still in peak wildfire season. The rain that we experienced over the last couple of days has brought some relief in the south, but the wildfire season continues. People across the province, particularly in the north must stay vigilant, and be prepared to evacuate if needed."

British Columbia has been experiencing historical draught since last winter. Unseasonal high temperature and gust wind in central and northern parts of BC have exacerbated fire hazards, making wildfires hard to put out and hard to predict.

SOUNDBITE 2 (English): CLIFF CHAPMAN, BC Wildfire Service
"The north is not getting rain. They are not getting any rain in the next 48 hours. What they are going to receive is significant winds. And as we talked about at the last briefing, there are some fires on the landscape up there that we were talking about on these media briefings back in April, May and June, as well as some additional fires over the last couple of months that are going to get that wind on them over the next 48 hours. And we are suspecting and we're forecasting those winds to be between 40 and 60 kilometers an hour. That's a significant wind after seven days of drying in the north. So I just don't want to lose focus on the fact that the north is not experiencing the same weather that we are experiencing in the south right now."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Ottawa.
(XHTV)