British Columbia asks help to fight 450 fires

While media coverage of wildfires in North America is largely focused on California,  British Columbia (BC) in Canada is also facing major devastation and has called for outside help.

Global News reports that there have been hundreds of lightning strikes since Tuesday and B.C. wildfire officials are anticipating more in the next 24 hours. There were 86 new fires started on Thursday.

The BC Wildfire Service has issued a call for help to manage a fire situation that has grown beyond its capacity to fight the flames on its own.  On Facebook Thursday night, the service said B.C. has hit a Provincial Preparedness Level of 4 for the first time this year – that means it needs outside assistance to manage the fire situation.

Ontario
In Northern Ontario, a two-week-old fire has ravaged  110 square Kilometers while provincial parks that have not been affected by fire for over 100 years are threatened.  Air Quality has been affected in Sudbury and North Bay.