Canada Wildfires

Fires burning in California, Oregon, Arizona, Washington and other western states, as well as Canada, have filled the skies in regions of the western U.S. with smoke and haze, forcing some affected areas to declare air quality alerts or advisories. As of Wednesday morning, there were 79 large active wildfires across the country being managed that have burned 1,431,460 acres (579,292 hectares), according to the National Interagency Fire Center. Evacuation orders are in effect for 15 fires in the Northwest, where fires continue to show active to extreme behavior. Communities near several fires in California, the Northern Rockies and the Great Basin are also under evacuation orders. Where are the big fires? regon has 31 large active fires that have burned 791,653 acres (320,371 hectares). The Durkee Fire, the largest active blaze in the U.S., was burning near the Oregon-Idaho border and was 0% contained as of Wednesday morning and had burned nearly 400 square miles (1,036 square ...

Residents in the western Canadian city of Fort Nelson, British Columbia, were given permission Monday to return home after more than 4,700 were evacuated from the community for more than two weeks due to wildfires. The Northern Rockies Regional Municipality and the Fort Nelson First Nation jointly rescinded their evacuation orders, lifting roadblocks and clearing the way for people to go home. About 4,700 people were forced to leave their homes in Fort Nelson on May 10, when strong winds pushed the Parker Lake wildfire within a few miles of the town. The wildfire is now classified as being held." The BC Wildfire Service said rain on Sunday and the efforts of firefighters meant the 123-square-kilometer (47-square- mile) fire in the northeastern corner of the province was not expected to grow. But the blaze hasn't been extinguished and the service says it expects parts of it to continue burning into the fall. The fire destroyed four homes and damaged six other properties in the are

Canadian authorities are urging all remaining residents in the northeastern part of the province of British Columbia to leave immediately, despite improving weather conditions, after thousands have already been evacuated due to a fast-growing wildfire. The blaze, which started on Friday, almost doubled in size the following day, reaching about 17 square kilometers (4,200 acres). BC Wildfire Service maps showed the fire burning just a few kilometers (miles) west of Fort Nelson's city limits. Online footage shared by locals showed thick plumes of smoke rising high into the sky with houses in the foreground. In some photos, haze seemed to cover wide areas. The Northern Rockies Regional Municipality and Fort Nelson First Nation issued a joint statement warning people staying behind that emergency medical services are not available, nor are groceries or other amenities. The municipality mayor, Rob Fraser, said most of the 3,500 residents in and around Fort Nelson, B.C., have been ...

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Fast-moving wildfires raced through Washington state on Friday, burning some homes and prompting evacuation orders for thousands of people in small rural communities. One of the largest blazes, the so-called Gray Fire near Spokane in eastern Washington, began around noon and a few hours later had surged through 4.7 square miles (12 square kilometers) of grass, timber and wheat, pushed by 35-mph (56-kph) winds, according to the Washington State Department of Natural Resources. Level 3, or Go Now, evacuations were issued for Medical Lake, a community of about 4,800 people and some homes and other buildings had burned, authorities said, although it wasn't clear how many. National Guard troops were called in to help evacuate patients and staff from Eastern State Hospital, a 367-bed psychiatric facility in Medical Lake. Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels said deputies were running from house to house urging people to leave their homes, NBC News reported. We've had to rescue people by b

Residents of the capital of Canada's Northwest Territories began fleeing an approaching wildfire Thursday in long convoys while air evacuations were underway for those who could not leave by road, the latest chapter in Canada's worst fire season on record. The fire was within 16 kilometers (10 miles) of the northern edge of Yellowknife, and people in the four areas of the city of 20,000 at highest risk were told to leave as soon as possible, Fire Information Officer Mike Westwick said. Residents in other areas should be out by noon Friday, because strong north winds could push the fire toward the highway needed for evacuation, Westwick said. Although some rain was forecast for the region, first responders were taking no chances. I want to be clear that the city is not in immediate danger and there's a safe window for residents to leave the city by road and by air, Shane Thompson, a government minister for the Territories, told a news conference. Without rain, it is possible it will

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency posted air quality alerts for several states stretching from Montana to Ohio on Sunday because of smoke blowing in from Canadian wildfires. Air Quality alerts are in place for much of the Great Lakes, Midwest, and northern High Plains, the National Weather Service said. This is due to the lingering thick concentration of Canadian wildfire smoke over these regions. While the concentration of smoke in the atmosphere should begin to wain by Monday, there is still enough smoke to support unhealthy air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups in parts of these regions into the start of the upcoming week. The U.S. EPA's AirNow air quality page rated the air in Chicago as unhealthy as of 9 a.m. CDT Sunday. And in Michigan, state environmental officials said the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services advised people in the state to check the Air Quality Index regularly to decide if they should

It was a smell that invoked a memory. Both for Emily Kuchlbauer in North Carolina and Ryan Bomba in Chicago. It was smoke from wildfires, the odour of an increasingly hot and occasionally on-fire world. Kuchlbauer had flashbacks to the surprise of soot coating her car three years ago when she was a recent college graduate in San Diego. Bomba had deja vu from San Francisco, where the air was so thick with smoke people had to mask up. They figured they left wildfire worries behind in California, but a Canada that's burning from sea to warming sea brought one of the more visceral effects of climate change home to places that once seemed immune. It's been very apocalyptic feeling, because in California the dialogue is like, Oh, it's normal. This is just what happens on the West Coast,' but it's very much not normal here, Kuchlbauer said. As Earth's climate continues to change from heat-trapping gases spewed into the air, ever fewer people are out of reach from the billowing and deadly

Drifting smoke from the ongoing wildfires across Canada is creating curtains of haze and raising air quality concerns throughout the Great Lakes region, and in parts of the central and eastern United States. Michigan's Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy on Tuesday issued an air quality alert for the entire state, while in Chicago where the air quality has been categorised unhealthy by the US Environmental Protection Agency officials are urging young people, older adults and residents with health issues to spend more time indoors. Just driving into the zoo ... you could just see around the buildings, kind of just haze," said Shelly Woinowski, who was visiting the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago. Some day care centres in the Chicago area have told parents that their children will remain indoors on Tuesday due to the poor air quality, while one youth sports club says it adjusted its activities to add more time indoors. We recommend children, teens, seniors, people with .

"People in Norway may be able to smell and even notice the smoke as a light haze but, unlike parts of the US that have seen hazardous pollution, they should experience no health impacts"

The air quality of New York city has deteriorated as smoke from the Canadian wildfires poured into the US East Coast and Midwest, with data showing that the pollution level in the metropolitan city was highest among significant cities worldwide, even surpassing New Delhi. Situation was such that the picturesque and renowned skyline of New York City became invisible on Wednesday behind a hazy veil of smoke from the Canadian wildfires flowing into the region. According to IQAir, New York City had the highest levels of air pollution among significant cities worldwide on Wednesday morning, surpassing even New Delhi. Recently in a global air quality report, India was ranked eighth on the list, with Chad, Iraq, Pakistan, Bahrain, and Bangladesh being the five most polluted countries in 2022. The weather forecasters expect hazy weather to continue in New York through the rest of the week. AccuWeather forecasters expect very unhealthy" levels to continue through the rest of the week. Th

According to the National Weather Service, rampant wildfires in the Canadian province of Quebec brought widespread haze and smoke to the Northeast and Great Lakes areas of the US

More than 300 firefighters from the United States and South Africa are heading to Canada in the coming days to help the country battle an unprecedented wildfire season. Federal officials said on Thursday that at least 100 US firefighters will be arriving in Nova Scotia over the weekend to help knock down out-of-control wildfires that have forced about 21,000 people from their homes since Sunday. Another 200 firefighters arriving from South Africa will likely end up in Alberta, though officials say the wildfire situation in the country is fluid. In Nova Scotia, two major fires that remain out of control one in suburban Halifax, the other in the southwestern corner of the province have already destroyed at least 200 homes and cottages. Still, fire officials announced on Thursday that the fire near Halifax had been 50 per cent contained, and that it had not grown on Wednesday. The latest contingent of arriving international firefighters will be joining hundreds of their colleagues

A wildfire on Canada's Atlantic coast has damaged about 200 houses and other structures and prompted the evacuation of 16,000 people, many of whom were eager to return Tuesday to see whether homes and pets had survived Firefighters worked through the night to extinguish hotspots in the fire that started in the Halifax area on Sunday, Halifax Deputy Fire Chief David Meldrum said. He said it was too early to give an exact count of homes destroyed, but the municipal government put the toll at about 200 buildings. Dan Cavanaugh was among two dozen people waiting Tuesday in a Halifax-area parking lot to learn if their suburban homes had been consumed by the wildfire. "We're like everyone else in this lot," said the 48-year-old insurance adjuster. "We're not sure if we have a house to go back to or the extent of the damages." Police officers were writing down the names of residents and calling people to be escorted to see what had become of their properties. Sarah Lyon of the Nova Scoti

This wildfire risk mapping and logistic planning project improved wildfire prediction by combining static and meteorological datasets and reduced both response time and risk to firefighters, WEF said

Of the active blazes, 15 present a real threat to communities, said British Columbia fire spokesman

Firefighters were on the defensive, striving to protect the communities of Gregoire Lake, Anzac and Fort McMurray First Nation