Hot and dry conditions have worsened wildfires throughout Western Canada, forcing thousands from their homes and leaving many regions under a layer of smoke. “Prayers are needed for rain,” Chief Wilfred Hooka-Nooza of Dene Tha First Nation in northwestern Alberta said Tuesday. Hundreds of people were forced earlier this week to flee Chateh, a community that is part of the First Nation, as a blaze approached. …An email was sent to all Government of Alberta employees Tuesday asking anyone with firefighting experience to volunteer. Sixty additional firefighters from Ontario also arrived in the province. …An evacuation order for Drayton Valley, where some people lost their homes as a wildfire tore through nearly two weeks ago, was partially lifted. …The weather has not been co-operative in battling blazes in northern British Columbia, and officials there said an ongoing heat wave is increasing the fire risk further south.