Fires in Western Canada

 

On Sunday, the initial significant wildfires of the season scorched about 10,000 hectares (24,710 acres) in Western Canada. Authorities mandated evacuations for residents of British Columbia and cautioned about poor air quality across the provinces. In British Columbia, numerous individuals from the Northern Rockies Regional Municipality and Fort Nelson First Nations were relocated as a nearby fire nearly doubled in size to 4,136 hectares.

Fort Nelson First Nation, situated approximately seven kilometers (about 4.35 miles) from the city, also issued an evacuation order for Fontas, an Indigenous community. Rob Fraser, the mayor of the Northern Rockies Regional Municipality, mentioned in a TV interview that the majority of the approximately 3,500 residents in and around Fort Nelson were evacuated. Meanwhile, across the border in Alberta, inhabitants of Fort McMurray, an oil center previously affected by wildfires in 2016, were advised to prepare for potential evacuation.