As Canada battled wildfires from its west coast to the prairies, another blistering heat wave threatened to descend this week on British Columbia, where more than a million acres have burned since April. In recent months, a series of near-relentless heat waves and a deepening drought linked to climate change have helped to fuel exploding wildfires. In Manitoba, a drought has forced livestock farmers to consider selling some or all of their cattle. …northwestern Ontario is also bracing for a possible outbreak of fires later this week… The risks from these fires was illustrated in southern Oregon, where the Bootleg Fire grew so large and hot that it created its own weather, triggering lightning and releasing enormous amounts of smoke. …The wildfires scorching areas of Canada and the United States in recent years may be only the beginning of the areas’ woes, according to a new United Nations scientific report.
In response to the White Rock Lake wildfire, an evacuation order has been re-issued, effective 2 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 12, for residents of Fintry, La Casa and Shalal Road within RDCO’s Central Okanagan West Electoral Area. Residents south of the ‘Valley of the Sun’, along Westside Road from Upper Fintry through La Casa including 6409 Westside Rd., have until 2 p.m. to gather their belongings and exit the area by travelling south on Westside Road (no north access). The re-issued evacuation order includes 608 properties… A detailed map showing properties under Evacuation Order or Alert is available at 
A month-old wildfire burning through forestlands in Northern California lurched toward a small lumber town as blazes across the U.S. West strained resources and threatened thousands of homes with destruction. Crews were cutting back brush and using bulldozers to build lines to keep the Dixie Fire from reaching Westwood east of Lake Almanor, not far from where the blaze destroyed much of the town of Greenville last week. …They were among more than 100 large wildfires burning in a dozen Western states seared by drought and hot, bone-dry weather that has turned forests, and pastures into tinder. The U.S. Forest Service it’s operating in crisis mode, fully deploying firefighters and maxing out its support system. …Oregon Gov. Kate Brown declared an emergency for one of the fires to mobilize crews and other resources to the area of ranches, rural subdivisions and RV parks about 14 miles from the small town of Lakeview.
The Rosebud County Department of Emergency Services has issued an evacuation notice for the Ashland area due to the 63,000-acre Richard Spring Fire burning southwest of Colstrip. The fire is anticipated to burn to the south and east today through another 20,000 to 30,000 acres in Rosebud County. …U.S. Highway 212 from Broadus to Crow Agency and Highway 39 from Colstrip to Lame Deer both closed to traffic Tuesday afternoon. Pre-evacuations are in place for Highway 212 and Lame Deer. …The Tongue River Electric Coop posted on its Facebook page that its crews are busy extinguishing fires on its power poles and that power remains intact, but added, “It is very possible with the increased activity and threat to our main transmission line we could lose power. Please have understanding and patience during this time. Please make preparations.” 
RICHMOND, Virginia — Thirty-nine employees of the Virginia Department of Forestry are heading to the West Coast to assist crews there as they fight enormous wildfires. “Conditions are very physically demanding, but these are some of Virginia’s most experienced wildland firefighters,” the Virginia Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry said. Firefighters will ship out for 14 days at a time, flying to remote locations to help contain the blaze. John Miller, director of fire and emergency response with the Department of Forestry, said the hands-on experience firefighters get during this time “makes them better prepared to deal with the management of emergency incidents here in the Commonwealth.”
Moscow – Forest fires in Russia have burned more than four million hectares across the country, the Russian federal agency for forestry reported Wednesday. The federal agency said a total of 172 out of the 257 active forest fires are in the republic of Sakha in the Russian Far East. Smoke from the blazes in Sakha has spread across the Russian Far East… The Krasnoyarsk emergency department said Tuesday that high levels of smoke were recorded in 896 cities and villages in the region. Since the beginning of 2021, there have been 11,878 forest fires that tore through more than 8 million hectares across Russia, according to figures released by the federal agency for forestry.EFE
