Word – See the Wildfires Burning Across Western Canada and the Pacific Northwest
Wildfires spread throughout parts of Northern California, the Pacific Northwest and western Canada this week, prompting evacuation orders. Tens of thousands of firefighters were sent to combat the blazes, as buildings burned to the ground, cities were blanketed in smoke and hundreds of thousands of acres of land were scorched.
The Park fire in California has burned more than 307,000 acres this week and destroyed 134 structures north of Chico, Calif., quickly becoming the largest wildfire in the country this year. A man was arrested after officials said he had started the blaze by pushing a burning car down a ravine on Wednesday.
The authorities in Calgary, Alberta’s largest city, issued a health advisory saying that smoke from the wildfires was expected to cause very poor air quality, and on Thursday smoke had already reached as far as New England. More than 40 fires were burning in Oregon and Washington, including the Durkee fire, near Oregon’s border with Idaho, which encompassed more than 288,000 acres as of Friday night.
Here’s what photographers and video journalists are seeing on the ground as the blazes spread.
