Western Canada wildfires may spread with more hot, dry weather

Tourists from Denmark stop to photograph one of several wildifres burning near Little Fort, British Columbia, Canada July 9, 2017. REUTERS/Dennis Owen

KAMLOOPS, British Columbia (Reuters) - As Western Canada's British Columbia battled 220 wildfires scattered across the province on Sunday, officials warned that they expect greater devastation with forecasts of more hot, dry weather over the coming week.

"Looking at the medley of forecasts out there, it's certainly not optimistic," British Columbia's chief fire spokesman Kevin Skrepnek said at a press briefing. "We are going to be at the mercy of the weather."

Volunteers man an evacuation center in Kamloops, BC, Canada for residents of the nearby towns of Cache Creek and Ashcroft who have fled wild fires July 8, 2017. REUTERS/Dennis Owen

The blazes took off on Friday when 138 fires started as electrical storms and brisk winds passed through the interior of the bone-dry province, which has not seen significant rains for weeks.

British Columbia declared its first state of emergency since 2003, evacuated an estimated 7,000 residents from the path of the wildfires and deployed some 1,600 personnel to respond to the fires.

Some 24,000 hectares (59,305 acres) were ravaged by wildfires as of midday Sunday, according to official tallies. Skrepnek said he believed the extent of the devastation was significantly higher.

Smoke rises over the landscape in Ashcroft, British Columbia, Canada July 7, 2017. Picture taken July 7, 2017. Mandatory credit TWITTER/@joeandsue/Handout via Reuters ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. MANDATORY CREDIT. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVE.

"We pray for rain, but our prayers aren't always answered,” British Columbia Premier Christy Clark said while touring regional evacuation facilities in Kamloops, a town some 250 kilometers (155 miles) northeast of Vancouver.

She announced a C$100 million ($78 million) fund for victims that the Canadian Red Cross will administer.

It is modeled after one set up after last year's Fort McMurray fire in the neighboring province of Alberta, one the worst natural disasters in Canadian history. It provides stipends of C$600 to help victims displaced by the fires as well as money to help rebuild after the blaze is extinguished, Clark said.

A ground crew fills a Conair airtanker with fire retardant at the Provincial Wildfire Coordination Centre at Kamloops Airport in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada July 8, 2017. REUTERS/Dennis Owens

Other assistance poured in from across Canada.

Canada's military agreed to supply airplanes and helicopters. Other jurisdictions agreed to send some 260 personnel to help.

Survivors of the May 2016 Fort McMurray blaze, which displaced 88,000 people and burned 590,000 hectares, organized a drive to send water, fuel and other supplies to British Columbia.

Residents of the nearby towns of Cache Creek and Ashcroft who have fled wild fires wait to be registered at an evacuation center in Kamloops, BC, Canada July 8, 2017. REUTERS/Dennis Owen

"We've been through it. We know what it's like," Marty Frost, a former Fort McMurray firefighter, told broadcaster CBC News Network.

($1 = 1.2880 Canadian dollars)

While a helicopter returns from surveying some of numerous wildfires in the area, people fill up gas and food at a service station on Little Fort, British Columbia, Canada July 9, 2017. REUTERS/Dennis Owen

(Reporting by Dennis Owen in Kamloops, British Columbia; Writing by Jim Finkle in Toronto; Editing by Mary Milliken)

Vehicles drive past one of several wildfires burning near Little Fort, British Columbia, Canada July 9, 2017. REUTERS/Dennis Owen