Hundreds of people were evacuated from their homes Wednesday night through western Canada as fires were added to the unprecedented heat wave that is hitting the country .
The town of Leighton, about 250 miles northeast of Vancouver, which became famous this week for setting a national heat record of 49.6 degrees Celsius, was evacuated last night by a fire that spread rapidly.Remaining Time-0:00FullscreenMute
“A fire that broke out in the village is currently threatening the infrastructure and the safety of the residents of the municipality,” according to a press release signed yesterday by Mayor Jan Polderman.
“The situation of the fires is extremely dangerous at the moment. “Emergency teams are doing everything they can to support the people of Leaton,” British Columbia Prime Minister John Horgan said in a Twitter post.
Fires have been reported north of the city of Kamloops, according to a provincial government map.
The evacuation order was extended Wednesday night to residents of about 100 properties north of Lyton.
“An extremely strong system in British Columbia will continue to cause record temperatures for the next two days,” Environnement Canada said in a news release early this morning in Prince George’s area of British Columbia.
“The duration of this heatwave is worrying, because there is a slight decrease in heat at night, due to the high night temperatures,” he added.
Today, the heat wave continues to move eastward in central Canada. Outside of British Columbia, authorities issued warnings of heatwave in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and parts of northwestern Ontario.
