Canada Wildfires

Over 120 million U.S. citizens were under air quality advisories due to smoke from the fire traveling all the way from Canada. All the smoke made the air unsafe to breathe and could cause serious health effects if inhaled. Myla Drake, a sixth grader that traveld some over the summer, states, “I went to Pennsylvania, and the sky was filled with smoke and it was harder to see because of the smoke.” In British Columbia (a part of Canada), over 8,000 people are still under evacuation due to the fires. Because of the lack of rain in the past 6 weeks, everything in the Northwest US and Southern British Columbia is dangerously dry. This could be bad for those territories, especially since it could start more and more fires, as they are not getting nearly enough rain.

This year’s fires have damaged more than 3 million hectares (1 hectare = 2.5 acres) of land. The fires have damaged structures, injured many people, and led about 22,000 people to flee their homes, towns, and cities. “The last thing that I would want is somebody to have the shock of finding out on social media or on television about their home being lost,” British Columbia Emergency Management Minister Kelly Greene stated ( ABC News). A few cities that were evacuated include Summerland, Peachland, and South-West of Kelowna. All major cities continuing to deal with the fires ablaze.