More than 560 wildfires are burning in British Columbia

A fire truck.
(Image credit: iStock)

A state of emergency has been declared in British Columbia, as thousands of firefighters battle at least 566 wildfires burning across the Canadian province.

More than 3,000 residents have been evacuated from their homes, and 18,000 have been told to prepare to leave at a moment's notice. So far this year, there have been more than 1,800 fires in the province, scorching 939,000 acres. Firefighters have come from as far away as Mexico and New Zealand to help battle the blazes.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.