Nearly 400 wildfires are burning inthe southern part of Canada's western province of British Columbia,reports reaching Ottawa said Wednesday.

A hazy blanket of smoke is covering Vancouver, the largest cityin the province and Victoria, the provincial capital city, from the Lonesome Lake blaze, the largest wildfire in the province so far this season.

The lonesome Lake blaze has now burned more than 100 square kilometers in Tweedsmuir Park, about 300 kilometers northwest of Vancouver. It began smouldering a month ago, but roared to life infull force on the weekend, tripling in size since then.

The provincial forest service is working hard to keep 388 recorded fires in check, with the help of 1,000 firefighters.

Source: Xinhua