Wildfires rage unabated in Canada

Firefighters dig out hot spots near the Strawberry Hill fire on the outskirts of Kamloops, British Columbia on Wednesday. PHOTO: REUTERS

It could be weeks before 3,500 people evacuated ahead of a raging wildfire in British Columbia can return home, even if their houses survive the blaze, officials said on Wednesday.

Thunderstorms caused new problems for firefighters, with winds that allowed one of three large forest fires burning near Kamloops to jump dramatically in size, while lightning also sparked more than 30 new blazes.

The western Canadian province is suffering its worst forest-fire conditions in decades with soil so dry that a single lightning strike or carelessly discarded cigarette can quickly set vegetation and trees ablaze.

The forecast for the next few days called for more of the storms that produce little of the rain that fire crews say is critical to bringing the flames under control.

"We're hunkered down, we're carrying on, and we're going to beat this in the end," said Denis Gaudry of the British Columbia Forest Service.

Aid officials and grief counselors met one-on-one on Wednesday with displaced residents of Louis Creek, a town of just over 600 people just north of Kamloops, which lost 37 homes and a sawmill that was one of the region's biggest employers.

Jennifer White lost her house in Louis Creek and the sawmill's destruction means her husband is out of a job.

"We had no insurance. We've lost everything. I don't know what is going to happen to us," an emotional White said.

High winds caused the McLure fire that ravaged Louis Creek to expand by more than a third late Tuesday and early Wednesday and it continued to threaten the town of Barriere, which was evacuated last Friday, officials said.

With flames destroying infrastructure such as electricity lines, an emergency official warned it could be weeks before Barriere residents are allowed to return home, even if the fire is quickly brought under control.

An estimated 3,500 people have been evacuated because of the fire that began last week from a cigarette butt.

No deaths have been reported, but three people have been hospitalized with injuries, one of which involved a traffic accident blamed on heavy smoke that reduced visibility to zero near Louis Creek.

South and east of the McLure fire, in the Crowsnest Pass region of neighboring Alberta, 840 firefighters, aided by some damp weather, appeared to be making progress battling a 190km2 forest fire that has threatened towns for the past two weeks.

Officials lifted an evacuation order for about 900 people in and around the mountain town of Hillcrest, Alberta, where the huge Lost Creek blaze came within just 500m over the weekend, CBC reported