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Canada wildfires spur evacuation orders, warnings: What you need to know

More than 130 wildfires are burning across Canada, federal tracker says, as massive blazes force thousands to evacuate.

Thousands of people have been evacuated as enormous, out-of-control wildfires scorch large swaths of territory in western Canada, with the country grappling with what could be another devastating fire season.

This week, residents of the small town of Fort Nelson, in northeastern British Columbia, were forced from their homes as a blaze grew “dramatically” in only a few days and was moving towards the community.

In the neighbouring province of Alberta, authorities gave people in parts of Fort McMurray – a town at the heart of the Canadian tar sands region – about two hours to leave due to an approaching wildfire.

Canada saw its most intense fire season on record last year, with hundreds of wildfires burning in provinces and territories across the country in a crisis experts said was worsened by climate change.

Here’s all you need to know about the current wildfires.

How many wildfires are burning in Canada?

More than 130 wildfires are currently burning across the country, according to a tally by the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC).

Of those, 40 were considered out of control on Wednesday 15^th in the morning.

So far this year, Canada has experienced more than 1,000 wildfires that have burned approximately 336,000 hectares (830,000 acres) of land, the CIFFC found.

Where are the fires currently burning?

Most of the blazes are in British Columbia and Alberta, the CIFFC says on its website.

Others also have broken out in Saskatchewan, Manitoba and the Northwest Territories, among other parts of the country.

For more information please visit: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/5/15/canada-wildfires-spur-evacuation-orders-warnings-what-you-need-to-know