VANCOUVER, Canada — Fed by drought and a record-busting heat wave, forest fires in westernmost Canada had devoured more territory by Friday than any year since records were kept, provincial statistics showed.
Nearly 1,500 fires caused by people or lightning strikes in British Columbia so far consumed some 273,502 hectares (1,055 square miles) of forests -- more than 300 percent above normal, with untold weeks remaining in the fire season.
"Most fires have occurred in the last three weeks," provincial fire information spokeswoman Alyson Couch told AFP.
Nearly 4,000 firefighters from British Columbia, Alberta and Manitoba, aided by 22 water bombers and 151 helicopters, battled hundreds of ongoing blazes.
AFP: Fires devour record territory in westernmost Canada
Nearly 1,500 fires caused by people or lightning strikes in British Columbia so far consumed some 273,502 hectares (1,055 square miles) of forests -- more than 300 percent above normal, with untold weeks remaining in the fire season.
"Most fires have occurred in the last three weeks," provincial fire information spokeswoman Alyson Couch told AFP.
Nearly 4,000 firefighters from British Columbia, Alberta and Manitoba, aided by 22 water bombers and 151 helicopters, battled hundreds of ongoing blazes.
AFP: Fires devour record territory in westernmost Canada