Canadian wildfires prompt more evacuation orders, air-quality warnings

Hundreds of wildfires are burning in Canada’s western provinces of British Columbia and Alberta.

Hundreds of out-of-control wildfires are burning across western Canada, putting more communities under evacuation alert and raising concerns about air quality.

Authorities at the BC Wildlife Service said on Wednesday that 430 active wildfires were burning in British Columbia (BC) along with 177 more in neighbouring Alberta, including near Jasper National Park in the Canadian Rockies, one of the country’s most popular tourist destinations.

Canada’s westernmost province, BC was hit by more than 58,000 lightning strikes, according to the provincial wildfire agency, sparking scores of new blazes in forests that are tinder-dry after a three-week heat wave.

Park rangers scoured Jasper National Park in helicopters on Wednesday to look for people still inside despite a mass evacuation aiming to move 25,000 visitors and residents away from two large wildfires.

Searchers looking through the backcountry trails of the park already had picked up 245 people, Parks Canada Incident Commander Katie Ellsworth told reporters.