Summary British Columbia declares state of emergency after wildfiresFlames have led to evacuation orders for more than 35,000 peopleAQI of some British Columbia cities at 'hazardous' levelsREVELSTOKE, British Columbia, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Canada is sending the military to tackle fast-spreading wildfires in British Columbia, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Sunday, as the western province deals with flames that have led to evacuation orders for more than 35,000 people.
In some cities in British Columbia, the air quality index (AQI), which measures major pollutants including particulate matter produced by fires, was above 350, a "hazardous" level, IQAir, a real-time air quality information platform showed.
West Kelowna fire chief Jason Brolund said he saw some hope after battling "epic" fires for the past four days.
Since 2009, Canada has been spending more on fighting and suppressing wildfires than on maintaining its firefighting personnel and program.
In British Columbia, the TransCanada highway was closed near Chase, about 400 km (250 miles) northeast of Vancouver.
Persons:
Justin Trudeau, Jason Brolund, that's, Brolund, Trudeau, Krista Flesjer, Kip Lumquist, Lumquist, Nia Williams, Dan Whitcomb, Nilutpal, Denny Thomas, Mark Porter, Matthew Lewis, Lisa Shumaker, Gerry Doyle, Raju Gopalakrishnan
Organizations:
Columbia, Flames, British Columbia, Kelowna College, ., Canadian Broadcasting Corp, Reuters, U.S ., Canadian, REUTERS Acquire, Government, Thomson
Locations:
Columbia, REVELSTOKE, British Columbia, Canada, British, Kelowna, U.S, U.S . Pacific Northwest, Washington, Oregon, Squilax, Kamloops, New York, U.S . East Coast, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Chase, Vancouver, Craigellachie, Los Angeles, Bengaluru