International News

OTTAWA, July 25, (APP/AFP) – About half of the more
than 40,000 people who were evacuated from their homes because of raging wildfires in western Canada have been allowed to return, as the government on Tuesday promised emergency aid.
For nearly three weeks, the forest fires have plagued British
Columbia province, from the border with Washington state in the south up
to Alaska in the north. About 46,000 people were forced to flee.
While a handful of people went home late last week, provincial
emergency services have now given the green light to the vast majority of evacuees to head back.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who met with British Columbia’s
provincial leader John Horgan in Ottawa on Tuesday, pledged that the government would do “everything we can to help.”
“Rest assured, we will help British Columbians as they begin to
rebuild,” Trudeau said, promising federal disaster aid.
Trudeau said he would visit the affected areas of the province next
week, to meet victims and assess the damage.
On Tuesday, more than 150 fires were still burning, with about 100
of them still not under the control of the 3,500 firefighters deployed in the Pacific coast province.
Some 200 water-dumping helicopters and planes are being used in the
effort.
The state of emergency first declared on July 7 was extended last
week.
Since April, more than 700 fires have charred 3,730 square
kilometers (1,450 square miles) of land.