Thousands of Canadians have been forced to evacuate from raging wildfires. Now the smoke is making air quality dangerous

After thousands of residents in northeastern British Columbia were urged to evacuate from a wildfire spanning more than 4,000 acres on Saturday,

Thousands across Canada were urged to evacuate from blazing wildfires on Saturday, and the smoke emanating from them could be another danger lasting for the next two days — resulting in poor air quality and reduced visibility. Approximately 3,200 residents in northeastern British Columbia were under an evacuation order Saturday afternoon as the Parker Lake fire raged on in the area, spanning more than 4,000 acres. Meanwhile, evacuation alerts were in place for parts of Alberta as the MWF-017 wildfire spread to nearly 5,000 acres. Smoke from the infernos has caused Environment Canada to issue a special air quality statement that extends from British Columbia to Ontario. Residents in portions of British Columbia “are being impacted or are likely to be impacted by wildfire smoke over the next 24-48 hours,” Saturday’s alert said. Smoke coming from northeastern British Columbia is causing “very poor air quality and reduced visibility” in parts of Alberta, according to the alert. While conditions have improved temporarily in parts of the province, smoke is expected to return on Sunday. “Conditions should begin to improve Sunday night for much of the province. Over northwestern Alberta conditions are likely to remain poor through Monday or possibly Tuesday,” the alert said.