Canadian wildfire forces 1,000 to evacuate

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PEACHLAND, British Columbia, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- A wildfire burning outside Peachland in western Canada grew to 247 acres Sunday and forced more than 1,000 people to flee their homes, officials said.

Global News reported the fire had closed Highway 97 into and out of Peachland. The television network said residents ordered to evacuate were told to go to an emergency support services reception center in West Kelowna.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police issued a request for people with horse trailers to help evacuate horses from the area ahead of the blaze.

The cause of the fire, which started Saturday night, had not been determined.

"The winds in the area are pretty intense and that's sort of what's driving it," Kevin Skrepnek of the Kammloops Fire Center told The (Vancouver) Province. "Homes are immediately threatened at this point."