Wildfire crews arrive in BC from Mexico as hot dry conditions persist
The British Columbia government is welcoming 100 firefighters from Mexico on Saturday to help combat hundreds of wildfires raging across the province.
B.C. Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth will be welcoming the Mexican firefighters on Saturday and providing an update on the province's wildfire situation.
CBC News will livestream the update, which has been delayed to 1:30 p.m. PT.
There are currently 3,320 firefighters in B.C., including 94 from out of province.
Nearly 5,000 properties remain under evacuation order and more than 16,000 are under evacuation alert over the weekend as hundreds of fires burn across the province, some fuelled by consistently warm temperatures and strong winds.
The B.C. Wildfire Service says there are 258 blazes across the province as of Saturday morning, most of them in the Kamloops fire district in the B.C. Interior.
That's down from 275 fires reported Friday and about 300 earlier in the week.
'No relief in sight'On Thursday, the wildfire service said conditions are extremely dry in the southern half of the province and there is "no relief in sight."
The Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen Emergency Operations Centre continues to monitor some wildfires of note in the area, including the Nk'Mip Creek, Thomas Creek and Brenda Creek wildfires near Oliver and Osoyoos.
On Saturday morning, the district expanded an evacuation order for two properties because of the Nk'Mip Creek wildfire.
The district also said the Osoyoos Indian Band had rescinded an evacuation order and instead issued an evacuation alert for six properties.
Environment Canada has issued a special air-quality statement for nearly a quarter of B.C., in the southeast, because of smoke from the wildfires.
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