This handout photo courtesy of BC Wildfire Service shows the plume of smoke from wildfire C31056, near McKinley Lake and about 35 kilometers east of Horsefly, British Columbia, Canada on Wednesday. Multiple fires have broken out in British Columbia and evacuation orders have been issued for the village of Lytton, which has set a new temperature record by reaching 49.5 C in recent days. Photo: AFP

More than a million acres of the western US and Canada were in flames on Wednesday as multiple blazes raged across the region, fueled by soaring temperatures and drought, and with little sign of letting up.  

Large areas of California were placed on red alert as several conflagrations continued to burn. The so-called River Fire had still not been brought under control as it burned near Yosemite National Park, officials said. 

Firefighters were also concerned about the advance of the Dixie Fire, further to the north. 

While 2020 was the worst year for fires in California's modern history, 2021 may already be breaking that record. 

But it was in the neighboring state of Oregon that the fires were doing the most damage. The Bootleg Fire has already devoured more than 212,758 acres (86,000 hectares).

Forest fires are also gaining ground across the border in Canada. The west of the country, which suffered an unprecedented heat wave recently, has reported more than 35 new fires in the past two days, according to local authorities. 

Experts believe the heat wave has been worsened by global warming, and no improvement is expected in the coming days, meteorologists said. 

In eastern Canada, 1,000 people have had to be evacuated in recent days, especially among indigenous communities in Ontario, the most populous province in the country.

AFP