British Columbia residents on high alert as wildfires force state of emergency

Thousands of British Columbia residents were on high evacuation alert on Saturday after rapidly intensifying wildfires forced the western Canadian province to declare a state of emergency. The Pacific province has seen strong winds and dry lightning in the past 36 hours due to a cold mass of air interacting with hot air built-up in the sultry summer. By Friday, an out-of-control fire in southern British Columbia grew more than hundredfold in 24 hours and forced more than 2,400 properties to be evacuated.