Cool temperatures bring relief as Canada battles 'apocalyptic' wildfires

Cooling weather has given firefighters a slight edge against what the prime minister described as "apocalyptic" wildfires blazing across western Canada after tens of thousands were evacuated or put on alert.

Two fires threatening large parts of the scenic Okanagan Valley, including the cities of Kelowna and neighbouring West Kelowna in British Columbia, merged over the weekend.

Around 30,000 people in the province where 385 fires are now burning — out of almost 1,040 nationwide — had been under evacuation orders while another 36,000 were under alert to be ready to flee .

British Columbia's emergency management minister, Bowinn Ma, warned that the situation was "highly dynamic."

West Kelowna Fire Chief Jason Brolund, however, sounded a note of optimism, telling a news conference late Sunday: "We're finally feeling like we're moving forward, rather than we're moving backwards."

Temperatures in the region around Kelowna were expected to stay cool through Monday, creeping into the low 20 degrees Celsius (68 Fahrenheit) in the afternoon.

There was also some rain forecast starting Tuesday.

But officials said it was too soon to start planning a staged return of evacuees as thick smoke continued to choke the area.

'Apocalyptic devastation'

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at a cabinet retreat in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, to discuss the national fire crisis said Canadians "are watching in horror the images of apocalyptic devastation."

"It's a scary and heartbreaking time," he said as "people flee for their lives and worry about their communities."

This summer in Canada, more than 140,000 kilometres squared has already burned — roughly the size of Greece and almost twice the area of the last record of 73,000 kilometres squared. Four people have died so far.

The confusion and terror of the fires and evacuations have been compounded by Meta's blocking of Canadian news on Facebook and Instagram, in response to a new law requiring digital giants to pay publishers for articles.

"It is inconceivable that a company like Facebook is choosing to put corporate profits ahead of (safety)... and keeping Canadians informed about things like wildfires," Trudeau said Monday.

Kelowna, a city of 150,000, has become the latest population centre hit.

On the other side of Okanagan Lake, a number of homes on the outskirts of West Kelowna had been burned too.

And in Canada's far north, crews held back a massive fire threatening Yellowknife, the capital of the Northwest Territories. They were helped by some rain over the weekend.