Another 15,000 homes in a Canadian community have been forced to evacuate due to wildfires.

In Canada’s British Columbia, approximately 15,000 residents have been told to leave as firefighters battle catastrophic wildfires that have destroyed homes.

West Kelowna, a population of 36,000 people, was evacuated after a “significant” number of buildings caught fire, according to officials.

According to the BBC, a state of emergency has been proclaimed for the entire province, which is home to hundreds of individual flames.

The source also stated that a massive fire is burning hundreds of miles north of Yellowknife.

On Friday, an official deadline to evacuate the city – the capital of Canada’s Northwest Territories – passed.

Later that day, a local official stated that practically all inhabitants had gone by automobile or plane.

According to Shane Thompson, the territories’ environment and communities minister, approximately 19,000 of the city’s 20,000 residents had left.

“Some people are deciding to stay put. “Please evacuate if you are still in Yellowknife and are not critical to the emergency response,” Thompson warned.

He cautioned that the wildfires could have an impact on the highways and airport.

In British Columbia, evacuation orders increased from 4,000 houses on Friday afternoon to over 15,000 in less than an hour. Another 20,000 residences are on high alert.

Premier David Eby remarked that evening that the situation had “evolved rapidly” and that officials were bracing for “an extremely challenging situation in the days ahead.”

“This year, we’re facing the worst #BCWildfire season ever,” Eby tweeted on X, formerly known as Twitter. “In light of these rapidly changing conditions, we have declared a provincial state of emergency.”

The premier stated that this would ensure “that we can quickly access any tools we need to support communities.”

He warned that “emergency orders could include travel restrictions to specific areas if people do not respect our calls to avoid non-essential travel” as more people were evacuated.

According to one Kelowna resident, the fires spread like a “ominous cloud of destruction” across the mountainside.

According to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC), Canada is experiencing its worst wildfire season on record, with at least 1,000 flames raging across the country.

According to experts, climate change increases the likelihood of hot, dry weather that fuels wildfires.