More of British Columbia had gone up in smoke in eight days in July 2017 than during the entire 2016 season. It was a year for the record books. By the time the flames were finally extinguished, 2017 ranked as the worst wildfire season in British Columbia history.
As early as July 7, the province declared a state of emergency as separate fires raged across the province. By the end of the summer, more than 65,000 people had been forced to leave their homes and wildfire smoke was choking the air as far away as Victoria and Saskatchewan. In British Columbia Burning, Bethany Lindsay uses words and images to follow firefighters, evacuees and those who stayed to save their communities in this unforgettable wildfire season.