Thick smoke from fires in British Columbia, Alberta, and the Northwest Territories is drifting across Canada, prompting health warnings and the early turning on of night-time street lights.
There are around 155 fires burning around the country, some of which have forced the evacuation of entire towns and shut down portions of the scenic Icefields Parkway.
Some updates on fires we’ve been following:
- The Smith Creek Fire in West Kelowna, in BC’s interior, doubled in size since it ignited. It’s now at 400 hectares (just under 1,000 acres) and has forced 2,500 residents to evacuate their homes. Kelowna is no stranger to wildfire–in 2003, the area was ravaged by the Okanagan Mountain Fire.
- The Spreading Creek Fire in Banff National Park is still burning but is considered under control.
- The Mount McAllister Fire forced the evacuation of Hudson’s Hope, a small town northeastern BC. Town residents were allowed to return home on Thursday, but the fire continues to burn. The fire was at 16,000 hectares (around 40,000 acres) on Friday and was zero percent contained, local media reported.
To see the most current smoke reports on Wildfire Today, visit the articles tagged “smoke” at https://wildfiretoday.com/tag/smoke/
