Wild fires erupted on Monday in parts of British Columbia, Canada, forcing authorities to evacuate people from the affected areas, particularly the Baldonell in Fort St. John.

According to CBC News, at least three major structures in the city were destroyed by the fire while dozens of people in the neighbourhood of Prince George had to flee their homes. Firefighters have been deployed to battle the flames.

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The fire, which started at around 4:30 pm Pacific Time and resulted in as many as 48 wildfires burning at Monday night, has been reportedly brought under control. However, the state of emergency is still in place in Northern British Columbia.

Authorities have been warning of the dangers of fires owing to the very dry weather in British Columbia and parts of Alberta, which can be made worse by the windy weather that is expected in aftermath of the fires.

Wildfires, having become a common phenomenon in recent decades, have been attributed to climate change. In late 2015 wildfires had ravaged millions of acres of grasslands in Alaska and Canada bringing the state government to high alert.

Environmental experts have pointed out that the most likely cause for the increase in instances of wildfires is climate change. As the climate grows warmer it induces early melting of snow in spring, alters precipitation levels and creates dryer weather, thus lengthening the season during which these regions are prone to fires. 

Climate change, being a direct impact of large-scale carbon emissions in first world countries, will be a challenge to prevent such fires in future unless automobile and factory emissions are brought under a check.

TagsCanada, wildfire, California wildfire