Northern Canada’s Fires Worst Ever

Forest fires have chased thousands of residents from their homes throughout northern Canada in what officials call the worst wildfire season in a decade.

Lightning caused most of the fires.

Northern Ontario remained the hardest hit area, with nearly 400 fires blackening more than 2,000 square miles of forest. More than 1,700 people have been evacuated from their homes.

In Saskatchewan, heavy smoke from a fire just outside the remote northeastern town of Sandy Bay hampered firefighting efforts. Most of Sandy Bay’s 735 residents were evacuated Wednesday to Prince Albert, 186 miles away.

About 25 blazes in the Northwest Territories have blackened about 740,000 acres.