Dark, red skies hung over parts of B.C. Sunday as wildfires continue to drive people from their homes.
Wildfires burning near the region's Nadina, Shovel and Tesla lakes have grown to more than 16-hundred square kilometres combined -- the largest in the province.
Meanwhile, far to the southeast, many residents of Kimberley, B.C. have been on an evacuation alert since Thursday as smoke continues to descend on the East Kootenay region.
A second new evacuation and an expanded one have hit the Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako in the province's central region.
Officials there say an aerial reconnaissance of the fire threatening the community shows that the winds have changed, pushing the fire back onto itself.
The vast swath of burning landscape is also causing dangerous air quality issues, with smoke spreading across much of western Canada, heading as far south as Vancouver and as far east as Edmonton.
Air quality advisories are in place for multiple locations.
Meantime, researchers are taking a closer look at just how the blackened forests will affect ecosystems and water quality far downstream.
Monica Emelko, a water treatment engineer at the University of Waterloo, says fires are particularly hard on water.
She adds if enough of the watershed is burned, you can have a very significant, long-lasting impact on the local water supply.
- Compiled by NEWSTALK1010