The wind-whipped blaze, which had already blackened 1,700 hectaresacres) in 24 hours, spread to another 23,000 hectares (59,000 acres) and was again threatening the 100,000 residents of the valley city of Okanagan in one of Canada's two major wine-growing regions.

That same lightning-sparked blaze destroyed 250 homes in Okanagan 10 days earlier and forced 30,000 residents to flee.

Some 650 firefighters backed by 90 helicopters were working to contain the fire, which was within four kilometers (2.5 miles) of some homes.

The lush green province, suffering its worst drought since the 1930s, has been declared in a state of emergency since August 2.

In all, more than 7,000 firefighters and soldiers were battling 688 active fires in British Columbia, and more than 235,000 hectares (580,000 acres) have gone up in smoke since April, according to provincial forestry officials.

TERRA.WIRE