Rapidly growing wildfires in several provinces forced thousands of people from their homes and prompted air-quality warnings in cities thousands of kilometres away, while hot and dry conditions had other areas on high alert, including Nova Scotia, where the government banned most summertime activities in wooded areas. The deteriorating conditions have added up to a wildfire season that is on track to be one of Canada’s worst on record in terms of area burned, second only to 2023. As of Tuesday, at least 15,000 people were under evacuation orders in Manitoba, largely in the province’s north, while fires on Newfoundland and Labrador’s Avalon Peninsula had forced around 600 people from their homes. Across the country, more than 760 wildfires are burning, at least 205 of them deemed out of control. About 6.8 million hectares of land have burned so far this year.
The BC Wildfire Service said Tuesday (July 8) afternoon it’s aware of the wildfire in Washington State 16 km southwest of Northport and is assisting in fire suppression. The location is south of Highway 3 between Christina Lake and Trail, and is being referred to as the “Hope Fire”. The fire was first reported at approximately 1:15 p.m. was estimated later in the afternoon to be 600 acres (243 hectares) in size. BC Wildfire said in a social media post that the US Department of Natural Resources is responding and have resources on-site. BC Wildfire has also deployed airtankers to support wildfire suppression efforts. “At this time there is no threat to the Canada-US border,” it said. Stevens County Emergency Management has announced Level 3 (LEAVE NOW) evacuation orders in the area of Three Pines Youth Camp, according to a statement from Stevens County Emergency Management.
Hundreds of residents who were forced out of their homes by a wildfire burning near Cameron Lake on Vancouver Island are being allowed to return. The Regional District of Nanaimo (RDN) has posted an update removing 257 properties from its evacuation order, although residents remain on alert and must be ready to leave right away. The district said 37 properties in Little Qualicum River Village remain under evacuation order due to the six-square-kilometre wildfire that is now classified as being held. The B.C. Wildfire Service updated the status of the Wesley Ridge blaze, burning about 60 kilometres northwest of Nanaimo, saying it’s not expected to grow beyond its existing containment lines. An update from the wildfire service on Monday said the Wesley Ridge fire did not grow Sunday and was displaying mostly rank-one fire behaviour, a “smouldering ground fire with no open flame.”
VICTORIA — BC Wildfire Service said an out-of-control wildfire burning on Vancouver Island near Cameron Lake could generate smoke for the “coming weeks, and potentially the coming months.” The warning appears in a video that BCWS posted Sunday as part of a larger update on the Wesley Ridge wildfire. “The public will be seeing smoke at the height of land here on Wesley Ridge for the coming weeks, and potentially, the coming months,” said operations sections chief Beau Michaud while seen standing on a temporary helicopter landing pad fashioned out of logs. But Michaud added that he does not expect the fire to impact Highway 4 connecting communities along the western shore of Vancouver Island with communities on the eastern shore.
Forest Minister Ravi Parmar told reporters on Wednesday (Aug. 6) that in the past week, roughly 70,000 lightning strikes have hit B.C., leading to a “sudden increase” in fire activity. He also said that the B.C. Wildfire Service has largely been able to keep the fires from spreading. So far this season, more than 850 wildfires have sparked in B.C, but the province has kept 85 per cent of them smaller than four hectares, and only 120 were active on Aug. 6. As of Aug. 11 last year, there had been more than 1,300 fires, with almost 400 still active on that date. The only current “wildfire of note” is the Wesley Ridge fire on Vancouver Island. The fire is at Cameron Lake, between Parksville and Port Alberni, and is 530 hectares in size. Evacuation orders are in place for 400 homes, and 700 more are on evacuation alert.
A wildfire on Vancouver Island is threatening Douglas-fir trees in Cathedral Grove, located on the western shoreline of Cameron Lake. The old-growth forest is filled with gigantic 800-year-old trees… The out-of-control Wesley Ridge wildfire was discovered on July 31 and is now 511 hectares in size. The Regional District of Nanaimo issued an evacuation order on August 2, which affected nearly 400 properties in the area around Cameron Lake, about 25 kilometres west of Parksville. …The fire has grown rapidly over the weekend as it looms over Highway 4, which remains open for the time being. Crews are trying to push it back, even using night vision so they can battle the blaze 24 hours a day. Emelie Peacock with the BC Wildfire service says, “we currently have 142 personnel responding to this wildfire, which includes 65 firefighters, 2 followers, and roughly 75 structure protection specialists”. …The fire is suspected to be human-caused … investigation is still in its preliminary stages.
Wildfire smoke from just across the U.S. border is drifting into southern B.C., prompting a Level 1 activation of the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary’s Emergency Operations Centre (EOC). As of Wednesday night, the Hope Fire had grown to 3,500 acres with zero per cent containment, burning 11.4 miles southwest of Northport, Washington. Wednesday morning, the regional district issued an update on the Hope (USA) Fire. According to the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary (RDKB), as forecasted, favourable weather conditions last night resulted in shifting winds that blew the fire back onto itself and away from the Canada/US border. The United States has put considerable resources on the now 3,200-acre fire. For current information on the Hope Fire, residents are advised to consult U.S. agency sources, such as 
Officials in Nova Scotia say a wildfire in the western part of the province has grown and could force people out of their homes, while cooler temperatures and low winds have helped firefighters in Newfoundland and Labrador. The Long Lake wildfire is expected to grow, said Scott Tingley, manager of forest protection with Nova Scotia’s Natural Resources Department. On Sunday evening, the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources said the fire had almost doubled in size, growing from 11 square kilometres in the morning to nearly 20 square kilometres. It had spread past Godfrey Lake to the intersection of Fairns and West Dalhousie roads on one side and the south side of Spectacle Lakes on the other, it added. “These are not favourable firefighting conditions,” Tingley told reporters Sunday morning. “It’s very, very dry.” Two contracted helicopters were helping local firefighters along with crews from Prince Edward Island and Ontario, he said.
NOVA SCOTIA –More than one hundred homes have been evacuated as an out of control wildfire near West Dalhousie in Annapolis County continues to burn Friday morning. The fire broke out Wednesday on the north side of Long Lake, about 20 kilometres east of Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia. The provincial Department of Natural Resources has said a lightning strike caused the fire. …The national weather forecaster has issued an air quality statement for Annapolis County and parts of Halifax County, saying smoke from the wildfires is reducing air quality in the area, and that people who are more likely to be impacted by smoke — including pregnant people, infants and young children, people with chronic health conditions and people who work outdoors — should avoid strenuous outdoor activities.
The air quality has finally improved after several days of wildfire smoke hanging over much of southern Quebec. Montreal, along with several other cities in the province, were dealt an air quality advisory starting Saturday and clearing up Monday evening. But this year, the smoke causing the poor air quality isn’t coming from within the province but rather from the fires raging in the Prairies. While Quebec is seeing a rather tame wildfire season, this year is still gearing up to be another intense season for other parts of Canada. So far, 2025 has seen wildfires consume 6.5 million hectares. Last year the number totalled 5.3 million, and in 2023 — Canada’s worst wildfire season on record — a little over 16 million hectares burned. “The thing that is quite exceptional right now is that we had three years in a row with very, very high fire activity in Canada,” said Boulanger. The three most active fire seasons since 1995 have been recorded between 2023 and 2025, he said.
Rainfall continues to help crews fighting fires in Newfoundland and Labrador as the number of active wildfires drops from five to three, says the provincial fire duty officer. The active wildfires are the Winokapu fire in Labrador and the Chance Harbour fire in Newfoundland. The Ragged Harbour fire, which forced nearby Musgrave Harbour residents to evacuate over the weekend, also continues to burn. Wes Morgan said Wednesday morning that firefighters hit the ground on Tuesday to fight the Chance Harbour fire, located on the Bonavista Peninsula. “The precipitation that was forecasted did come true and we did see significant amounts of rain — that was a real advantage to us,” he told CBC. Morgan said they haven’t seen any additional fire growth, but it remains steady at 1,820 hectares. “Overall, it was a really great day and spirits are good and crews were back out in that way again this morning,” he said.
Much of Central Canada, Manitoba and Saskatchewan were placed under special air quality statements or warnings on Monday due to smoke from wildfires, as Environment Canada advised residents to limit time outdoors and watch for smoke exposure symptoms. The weather agency said air quality was poor across swaths of Ontario and Quebec as westerly winds brought in smoke from forest fires in the Prairies and northern Ontario. The weather agency also issued air quality warnings in central Saskatchewan and a special statement for much of Manitoba, noting that air quality and visibility due to wildfire smoke can fluctuate over short distances and vary from hour to hour.
Fire crews in Northwestern Ontario are monitoring 52 active wildfires across the region after five new blazes were confirmed by Sunday evening. Among the latest is Red Lake 99, burning near Grist Lake, which is the largest of the new fires at 394 hectares and not under control. Red Lake 101 has also drawn attention after crossing into Ontario from Manitoba. That fire is currently 227.5 hectares and continues to burn within Woodland Caribou Provincial Park. Other new fires include Red Lake 98 near Hornby Lake, Red Lake 100 west of Poplar Hill First Nation, and Red Lake 102 northwest of Nechigona Lake. Of those, only Red Lake 100 is under control. Fire officials continue to urge people to respect emergency orders and stay out of restricted zones to support safety and firefighting operations.
DRYDEN — Ten new forest fires in Northwestern Ontario over the weekend brought the total number of active fires in the region to 52. The Ministry of Natural Resources reports that one of the new outbreaks is an extension of a wildfire burning in Manitoba. That province’s EA061 fire has burned 278,000 hectares there, and 228 hectares in Ontario, as of Sunday evening. It’s located about 10 kilometres west of Bulging Lake in Woodland Caribou Provincial Park. Among other new fires of note in the Northwest, a 394-hectare blaze is burning four kilometres northwest of Grist Lake in the MNR’s Red Lake sector. The ministry reports the wildland fire hazard is low to moderate in most of the region, except for along the Ontario-Manitoba border from the Rainy River area to Opasquia Provincial Park, 250 kilometres north of Red Lake, where the hazard is mainly high. 
PAYSON, Arizona — Crews on the ground and in the air are making progress against the Washington Fire, which had burned an estimated 550 acres about 11 miles north of Payson. The lightning-caused blaze, which started Aug. 13, was 6% contained with nearly 500 personnel assigned as of Sunday. Firefighters are working to keep the fire boxed in between the Highline Trail to the south and Forest Road 300 to the north, while strengthening handlines and contingency lines around threatened communities and cabins. Officials say a combination of dozer work, hose lays, handlines and aerial water drops helped slow the spread and protect structures on the fire’s edge. …Dry, hot weather is expected to challenge suppression efforts in the days ahead, with firefighters also on alert for new starts. …Evacuation orders remain in place for Mountain Ridge Cabins, Washington Park and Shadow Rim Ranch.
GORMAN, California — 
Fires, storms and the potential for near-record high temperatures across the western US are in the offing for the coming week. The Gifford Fire, about 125 miles northwest of Los Angeles, had burned 113,648 acres and was 21% contained through Saturday, according to Cal Fire. So far, 809 people have been evacuated and the Los Padres National Forest was closed because of the flames. There are 3,935 fire crews and support staff on the scene, and at least seven have been injured, according to a joint statement by Cal Fire, the US Forest Service and several local agencies. The Gifford blaze is the largest of 14 fires across the state. …Large wildfires in Colorado have also caused air quality to drop there, the U.S. National Weather Service said. …Meanwhile, smoke from forest fires in Canada has once again crossed into the US, causing air quality alerts to be posted in Minnesota and parts of Wisconsin.
Arizona’s fire season keeps smoldering and flaring, thanks to a schizo monsoon and a dry winter. The 125,000-acre Dragon Bravo Fire continues to grow, with the 1,200 firefighters managing just 13% containment after nearly a month of trying. The National Weather Service had predicted a normal to wet monsoon after a bone-dry winter, based largely on sea-surface temperatures in the Pacific. But as a global warming trend driven by heat-trapping pollutants pumps energy into the atmosphere, patterns of drought, heat and storm tracks have become harder and harder to predict. So the monsoon has splashed and sputtered, with a week of storms giving way to a week of hot, dry weather – extending the fire season well into the period when fire crews would normally shift to other areas. Fortunately, the extended forecast calls for a chance the monsoon will gust back to life next week.
…The National Weather Service issued red flag warnings from 2 p.m. to 11 p.m. July 29 due to thunderstorms producing abundant lightning and wind gusts up to 50-60 mph, in combination with dry fuels, the alert said. A red flag warning means that critical fire weather conditions are either occurring now, or will occur shortly. NWS also issued a fire weather advisory from 2 p.m. to 11 p.m. July 29 due to potential lightning from thunderstorms that could spark new fires and wind gusts that could impact new and existing fires. …The Piper Fire sparked on July 28 from thunderstorms 3 miles northeast of Skookum Creek Campground in the Three Sisters Wilderness. It was estimated to be 20 acres as of July 28. …The High Horn Fire in Malheur County had burned 120 acres as of July 28. …The Skyline Fire, also burning in Malheur County, had burned 38.5 acres as of July 28.
MOUNT HOOD, Oregon — The Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday afternoon issued a Level 3 (go now) evacuation order for a new, five-acre wildfire on Mount Hood that was first reported late in the morning about three miles northwest of Timothy Lake. As of 4 p.m., the evacuation order does not affect the campgrounds and trails immediately around Timothy Lake, a popular recreational spot about 90 minutes from Portland. But helicopters are scooping large buckets of water from the lake to suppress the fire. Firefighters on the ground also have started an “aggressive initial attack,” the U.S. Forest Service said. The evacuation order affects a two-mile radius around the much smaller Dinger Lake and includes Anvil Lake and the Anvil Lake Trail 724. The order so far only affects remote campsites and hikers. …Dubbed the Anvil fire, it is burning near Forest Road 5820.
The Laguna Fire approximately 25 miles west of Abiquiú has grown to more than 15,000 acres, and prompted evacuation orders more than two weeks after Santa Fe National Forest officials announced their plans to let the fire safely grow instead of suppressing it immediately. On June 30, the Santa Fe National Forest announced that lightning caused the 176-acre fire and that they were going to “actively manage” the blaze, hoping to encourage low-intensity fire to spread across a roughly 13,000 mile area. Noting that the fire was burning in an area that had undergone a National Environmental Policy Act review, and had previously been subject to prescribed burns and thinning, Santa Fe National Forest Deputy Forest Supervisor Anthony Madrid said the fire presented “an opportunity to create a resilient ecosystem that reduces the future risk of catastrophic severe wildfire to communities.”
ATHENS — Wildfires intensified across southern Europe on Wednesday with a round-the-clock battle to protect the perimeter of Greece’s third-largest city and at least three deaths reported in Spain, Turkey and Albania. Outside the Greek port city of Patras, firefighters struggled to protect homes and agricultural facilities as flames tore through pine forests and olive groves. Tall columns of flames rose behind apartment blocks on the outskirts of the city. …Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez expressed condolences after the death of a firefighting volunteer in the hard-hit Castile and León region north of the capital, Madrid, where thousands have been displaced by evacuations. In Turkey, a forestry worker was killed Wednesday while responding to a wildfire in a southern region, officials said. The Forestry Ministry said the worker died in an accident involving a fire truck that left four others injured.
PATRAS, Greece,/MADRID – Wildfires caused by arsonists or thunderstorms and fanned by a heatwave and strong winds wreaked destruction across southern Europe on Wednesday, burning homes and forcing thousands of residents and tourists to flee. Fire has affected nearly 440,000 hectares in the eurozone so far in 2025, double the average for the same period of the year since 2006… Authorities ordered residents of a town of about 7,700 people near Patras to evacuate on Tuesday and issued new alerts on Wednesday, advising residents of two nearby villages to leave. On the Greek islands of Chios, in the east, and Cephalonia, in the west, both popular with tourists, authorities told people to move to safety as fires spread. In Spain, a volunteer firefighter died from severe burns and several people were hospitalised as state weather agency AEMET warned that almost all of the country was at extreme or very high risk of fire.
At least three people have died in a scorching heatwave that is fuelling dozens of wildfires across parts of southern Europe, forcing thousands of people from their homes. Red heat alerts have been issued in parts of Italy, France, Spain, Portugal and the Balkans, warning of significant risks to health as temperatures push above 40C (104F). Spain’s weather service Aemet said temperatures could reach 44C (111.2F) in Seville and Cordoba, while southern Portugal could also hit 44C. In Spain, an equestrian centre employee died after suffering severe burns in Tres Cantos, near Madrid, where winds over 70km/h (43mph) drove flames near homes, forcing hundreds to flee. In Spain’s north-western region of Castile and Leon, almost 4,000 people were evacuated and more than 30 blazes were reported. Another 2,000 people were evacuated from hotels and homes near the tourist hotspot of Tarifa. …In neighbouring Portugal, firefighters battled three large wildfires.
France’s biggest wildfire this summer was spreading quickly Wednesday in a Mediterranean region near the Spanish border after leaving one person dead, authorities said. The fire had burned an area larger than Paris. About 2,000 firefighters and several water bomber aircraft battled the blaze that broke out Tuesday afternoon in the village of Ribaute in the Aude region, a rural, wooded area that is home to wineries. The fire, which has burned 13,000 hectares (32,000 acres), remained ‘’very active” on Wednesday, the local administration said in a statement. The weather was hot, dry and windy, making it difficult for firefighters to contain the blaze. One person died in their home, and at least 13 others were injured, including 11 firefighters, local authorities said. One person who was initially described as missing has been located and is safe. 
Turkey faced a “very risky week” for wildfires, an official said Monday, as blazes across parts of southeast Europe and the Balkans damaged homes and led to a huge firefighting operation that included evacuations. Nearly 100 people face prosecution over the fires in Turkey. Blazes erupted near Bursa, Turkey’s fourth-largest city, over the weekend. A wildfire to the northeast of Bursa had been largely extinguished, but one to the south of the city continued, although its intensity had been “significantly reduced,” Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yumakli told reporters in Ankara. He also said that a fire that has been burning for six days in Karabuk, in northwest Turkey, had also “been reduced in intensity,” and a blaze in Karamanmaras in the south had largely been brought under control.
Greece continued to battle major wildfires across the country amid a severe heatwave, but firefighters have brought many outbreaks under control. Extreme heat persisted, with temperatures reaching 42.4C (108.32F) in central Greece on Sunday. Firefighters were working on five major fire fronts late on Sunday in the Peloponnese area west of Athens, as well as on the islands of Evia, Kythira and Crete. Meanwhile, neighbouring Turkey has recorded its highest ever temperature as fires raged in several regions. Turkey’s forestry minister, Ibrahim Yumakli, said on Sunday that areas affected by fires were “going through risky times” and that he thought it would be several days before they were fully contained. On Saturday, Turkey’s environment ministry said meteorologists had recorded a reading of 50.5C in the south-eastern city of Silopi, surpassing the previous heat record of 49.5C.
At least 10 forestry and rescue workers have been killed while battling wildfires in Turkey’s central Eskisehir province. Some 24 forest workers and volunteer rescue personnel were left “trapped inside the fire” following a change in the direction of the wind, Turkey’s Agriculture and Forestry Minister Ibrahim Yumakli said in a post on X. Five forestry workers and five volunteers from the AKUT rescue organisation lost their lives and 14 forest workers were taken to hospital, he said. The blaze in the Seyitgazi district of the province began on Tuesday morning and started spreading towards nearby areas, local media said. 
A firefighting helicopter crashed into the sea while attempting to collect water to combat a blaze in Athens. All three crew members were rescued and taken to a nearby hospital. Greece is combating a surge in wildfires amid soaring temperatures. A large wildfire broke out near the southern Greek city of Corinth on Tuesday, forcing the evacuation of several villages as firefighters battled flames under scorching conditions, authorities said. More than 180 firefighters, supported by 15 aircraft and 12 helicopters, were deployed to tackle the blaze in a pine forest in the mountainous area of the municipality, according to the local fire department. There were no immediate reports of injuries.