Thousands of Canadians have been ordered to leave their homes in Fort Nelson, British Columbia, due to the threat of a wildfire.
The fire started Friday evening and was described by officials as “exhibiting extreme fire behavior.”
Wildfires have also led to evacuation warnings and orders in the neighboring province of Alberta.
The Canadian government has warned that this year’s weather conditions would mean a greater risk of wildfires in the country.
The Parker Lake fire, as it is called by the British Columbia Wildfire Service (BCWS), was 8 square kilometers in size as of Saturday morning after growing rapidly overnight.
About 3,000 people at Fort Nelson – located in northeastern B.C., about 1,600 kilometers from Vancouver – were ordered to evacuate.
Rob Fraser, mayor of the Northern Rockies Regional Municipality, told CBC News the fire started after high winds toppled a tree and it crashed onto a power line and burst into flames.
“And by the time our firefighters could get down there, the wind had blown this into a fire that they couldn’t handle with the apparatus we had,” Mr Fraser said.
Strong winds and dry conditions make the fire more difficult to fight, the BCWS said.
As of Saturday, the fire was being fought by nine helicopters, ground crews and a structure protection specialist, whose job is to protect structures affected by bushfires.
In Alberta, people in the Grande Prairie region are under evacuation warnings and some have been asked to leave due to a fire burning four kilometers east of the hamlet of TeePee Creek in the province’s northwest.
Fort McMurray residents have also been told to be ready to leave as an out-of-control fire burns about 25 km southwest of the city.
Last year was a devastating year for Canadian wildfires, with 15 million hectares of forest burned – the most devastating season in the country’s history.
Eight firefighters were killed and about 230,000 people were driven from their homes.
An update from Environment Canada this week predicted challenging weather conditions that could lead to another difficult wildfire season.
Higher temperatures in spring and summer could “increase the risk and intensity of both natural and human-caused wildfires,” officials said.
A warmer-than-normal winter that left little snow on the ground also worsened drought conditions in several regions.
Globally, last year was the warmest year ever recorded. This was caused by man-made warming, but also stimulated by a natural weather system called El Niño.
Fires occur naturally in many parts of the world, including Canada.
But climate change is making the weather conditions needed for wildfires to spread more likely, the UN climate body said.
Extreme and prolonged heat draws more and more moisture from the soil and vegetation.
