Thousands of British Columbia residents have been chased from their homes as forest fires rage out of control in the province's central Interior.
The B-C government has declared a province-wide state of emergency as fire-fighting teams scramble to keep up with the situation.
Kevin Skrepnek, chief information officer for the B-C Wildfire Service, says yesterday was an extraordinary day with 173 new fires started as lightning storms rolled over parts of B-C.
He says 183 fires are currently burning and most of those are considered to be out of control.
More than one-thousand firefighters are working on the fires with support from heavy equipment and helicopters.
Skrepnek says they're exploring the idea of bringing crews in from other provinces.
Thousands of people have been evacuated from areas around two of the most aggressive fires near 100 Mile House and Cache Creek.
John Ranta, mayor of Cache Creek and head of the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, says the fire in Cache Creek destroyed dozens of buildings, including at least five houses, 30 trailer park homes and two hangers at a regional airport.