By Canadian Press

Hot and dry conditions persist as wildfires rage through Western Canada

May 16, 2023 | 10:36 AM

Hot and dry conditions are expected to continue as wildfires throughout Western Canada have forced thousands of evacuations and air quality warnings due to smoke as far east as northern Ontario.  

Roughly 2,500 people are fighting the fires throughout Alberta and 25 of 88 active wildfires are considered out of control.

Wildfires have also been a concern for Alberta’s neighbours, including the Northwest Territories, where the K’atl’odeeche First Nation and town of Hay River, about 120 kilometres from the Alberta boundary, are under evacuation orders. 

A convoy of vehicles was allowed to leave a northern Saskatchewan village early this morning after Buffalo Narrows issued a mandatory evacuation order.

In British Columbia, the City of Fort St. John, about 200 kilometres northwest of Grand Prairie, Alta., also issued an evacuation alert for its roughly 21,000 residents in response to a wildfire that’s more than 130 square kilometres in size.

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The British Columbia Wildfire Service hopes calmer winds in the province’s northeast will give it some reprieve to assess the blazes.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 16, 2023.

The Canadian Press