Situation out of control

Severe forest fires in Canada: thousands flee

Against the backdrop of the severe fires, the city of Edmonton is shrouded in thick clouds of smoke.(Bild: ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Fierce forest and bush fires are currently gripping Canada once again. Thousands of people in the west have had to flee from the flames.

A fire in the Parker Lake area on Saturday spread to almost 17 square kilometers - more than twice as much as the eight square kilometers reported a few hours earlier, Canadian media reported.

The flames were only a few kilometers away from the city limits of Fort Nelson. There are a total of three major fires around the town, which is located around 1600 kilometers north of Vancouver, and vegetation fires have also been reported in the province of Alberta, which borders British Columbia to the east.

Authorities issued evacuation orders
The municipal authorities of Northern Rockies in the north of the province of British Columbia issued an evacuation order for the city of Fort Nelson and the indigenous area of Fort Nelson First Nation. The affected residents should go to a reception center in Fort St. John just 400 kilometers further south, according to the disaster management website.

Last year, Canada was hit by forest fires on an unprecedented scale.