KELOWNA, Canada: Fires ravaging western Canada gained more ground on Sunday as two blazes merged and residents continued to evacuate.Rapidly evolving wildfires threatened large parts of the scenic Okanagan Valley, including the city of Kelowna, British Columbia.The situation in the popular boating and hiking destination was 'highly dynamic,' said Bowinn Ma, the province's minister of emergency management.'Do not travel to fire-affected areas of the province for tourism,' she added Sunday.Around 30,000 people were under evacuation orders while another 36,000 were under alert to be ready to flee, she said.Kelowna, a city of 150,000, was choked with thick smoke as it became the latest population center hit by one of the many wildfires scorching Canada this summer.'It has been horrible to spend the week with this air. It is horrible to breathe,' Mary Hicks, a 29-year-old IT worker who had been visiting the region from Montreal, told Agence France-Presse on Sunday. 'I really want to go home.'
Charred remains are seen on the side of the road beside the highway in Enterprise, Northwest Territories, Canada, on August 20, 2023. AFP PHOTOBut she was stuck there for now, with her return flight canceled. The airport hopes to resume flights this week, depending on visibility.'When I had to pack, in the moment I was crying, crying, crying,' said April, 39, who with her two small children fled her home east of Kelowna and was staying in a hotel outside the city.
Blazes in the neighboring Northwest Territories have meanwhile prompted the evacuation of regional capital Yellowknife, leaving the remote city of around 20,000 largely a ghost town.Overnight rains brought some relief to Yellowknife on Saturday, however, 'a little rain does not mean it's safe to come back home,' warned Northwest Territories environment minister Shane Thompson.
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