British Columbians capture photos of province burning

A photographic roundup of wildfires' smoke and flames

Image | David Luggi

Caption: The Island Lake wildfire, seen from the eastern section of Francois Lake Road, about half a kilometre west of Stellako Lodge. Many spectators came out to view the scene. (Submitted by David Luggi)

Across British Columbia, hundreds of fires have been burning all week, with some of the largest blazes being several times bigger than Vancouver.
A province-wide state of emergency was declared on Wednesday, with more than 20,000 people affected by on-going evacuation alerts and orders.
So far, 2018 is already the fourth worst wildfire season on record.
Here are some scenes that residents across B.C. are witnessing:

Image | Raine Lugia

Caption: The Island Lake fire on Aug. 8, near Stellako Lodge. The fire was estimated on Friday to cover 7,000 hectares. (Submitted by Raine Lugia)

Image | John Calogheros

Caption: Island Lake fire seen from a B.C. resident's cabin on Aug. 7. The fire has continued to spread and the area is under evacuation order. (John Calogheros)

Image | David Luggi

Caption: A helicopter flies above Island Lake Wildfire. The federal government sent additional aircraft and 200 troops to help fight the fires this week, alongside B.C. and international crews. (Submitted by David Luggi)

Image | Tracy Calogheros

Caption: The Island Lake fire in central B.C. has been burning for more than a week and is one of more than 560 fires in the province. (Tracy Calogheros)

Image | Tracy Calogheros

Caption: A helicopter surveys the fire complex around Francois Lake. Some British Columbians, like Bill Miller, the regional district board chair for the B.C. Interior's Bulkley-Nechako region, have asked why additional help wasn't sent sooner. (Submitted by Tracy Calogheros)

Image | Michael Slark

Caption: Smoke and ash darkened the skies across the province. In some areas, like Prince George, street lights had to stay on until past 9 a.m. (Submitted by Michael Slark)

Image | Tracy Calogheros

Caption: The Island Lake fire burned all week and, as of Friday, is still not contained. (Submitted by Tracy Calogheros)

Image | Lana Evenson

Caption: The skyline of trees, contrasted against the smoky skies, about 30 kilometres south of Vanderhoof on Aug. 13. (Submitted by Lana Evenson)

Image | Nicky Ray

Caption: Looking across the highway towards the Fraser Lake Arena. Behind the arena, wildfire crews have set up camp at the local soccer and baseball fields. (Submitted Nicky Ray)

Image | Barry Elliott

Caption: The view of the flame-painted skies, looking south across Tchesinkut Lake. (Submitted by Barry Elliott)

Image | Kristy Hirt

Caption: Smoke billowing from the Francois Lake fire on Aug. 7. An evacuation order for the area has since been issued. (Submitted by Kristy Hirt)

Image | Brian Robinson

Caption: The Shovel Lake fire was the largest in the province on Aug. 13 — the same day an evacuation order was issued for the area. As of Friday, it encompassed an area nearly seven times larger than Vancouver. (Submitted by Brian Robinson)

Image | Michelle Baker Lapointe

Caption: Smoke blows over from the north shore of Fraser Lake at about 5 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 13. (Submitted by Michelle Baker Lapointe)

Image | Valerie M. Louis

Caption: A passerby looks at the flames from the Island Lake fire. (Submitted by Valerie Louis)

Image | Dana Evaschuk

Caption: A morning sunrise in Mud River, B.C., on Aug. 14. Air quality advisories were issued in many areas across the province this week because of all the smoke in the air. (Submitted by Dana Evaschuk)

With files from Daybreak North