More than 1,000 wildfires continue to rage across Canada

Canadian government department Natural Resources Canada warned Thursday that wildfires will continue to rage throughout the country, with more than 1,000 currently burning.

Of the 1,052 fires in Canada, 791 are out of control, officials said.

In a news conference, the federal government said the wildfires have resulted in 284 evacuation orders, with 232,209 Canadians having to flee their properties.

Some travelled as far as 1,800 kilometers (1,118 miles) to reach safety as was the case last month for some of the approximately 20,000 residents when Yellowknife, the capital of the Northwest Territories, was evacuated, leaving it a ghost town.

As of Wednesday, a record 16.5 million hectares (40.77 million acres) have burned this season. The season runs roughly from about April to the end of September.

That smashes the old record of 7.6 million hectares (18.7 million acres) that burned in 1989. Experts predicted that the burning will continue for some time.

“In September, the latest projections indicate there is the potential for increased wildland fire activity across central Canada, from eastern Alberta into central Ontario,” said Michael Martin, the director general at Natural Resources Canada, as reported by CTV News.

As of Monday, 5,821 Canadian firefighters and 4,990 international firefighters have fought the flames so far, said Michael Norton of Natural Resources Canada. At least four firefighters have died since July.​​​​​​​

Earlier in the summer, the federal government announced the new Fighting and Managing Wildfires and Changing Climate Program, which will be funded with CAN$28 million (US$20.46 million) over five years and be used to finance 1,000 additional community firefighters, plus include Indigenous knowledge of fire management.