OTTAWA (Reuters) – About 150 people are stranded in a guesthouse in a remote part of the Pacific Canadian province of British Columbia (B.C.) after their only way out was cut off by a wildfire, CBC News reported on Wednesday.
The stranded people, including lodge guests and campers from nearby campgrounds, are sheltering at the Cathedral Lakes Lodge while waiting to be evacuated by provincial authorities, CBC News reported, citing one of the stranded guests.
Occupants at the lodge, located about 30 km (18.5 miles)southwest of the Keremeos village near the Canada-U.S. border in B.C., were asked to evacuate on Tuesday night due to a rapidly expanding forest fire.
But people were unable to leave due to the raging wildfire blocking the only access road connecting the lodge to a road leading to Keremeos, according to CBC News.
“We’re just waiting to hear back from B.C. Wildfire (Service), whether it’ll be (that) they can get us down via vehicle, or they’ll have to send in helicopters,” CBC quoted one of the stranded lodge guests as saying.
B.C. Wildfire Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Canada is enduring its worst wildfire season on record. Blazes have engulfed parts of nearly all 13 Canadian provinces and territories this year, forcing home evacuations, disrupting energy production, and drawing in federal as well as international firefighting resources.
There are over 1,000 active fires across the country, with B.C. accounting for over 350 of them.
(Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Ottawa; Editing by Sandra Maler)
