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Hot and dry weather is fueling wildfire activity in the Western United States and Canada, with fires damaging homes, causing injuries and forcing evacuations.
The largest active wildfire in the US has scorched more than 280,000 acres in eastern Oregon and another blaze has exploded to nearly 125,000 acres in California.
Some families have found themselves displaced as the Park Fire raged near Chico, a city in northern California, burning homes and forcing evacuations.
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A former news anchor Julia Yarbrough told CNN affiliate KOVR that she watched her Butte County house burn down live through security camera footage.
"There is no rhyme or reason. Our house is gone, their house is okay. The house next to it you can see it's gone.
Looking at the remnants of her home, Yarbough said she felt numb.
"It's surreal," she said.
"It probably won't hit me till later, I'm pretty sure."
Triple-digit temperatures and high wind gusts have fueled the explosive growth of the Park Fire amid an active fire season in California.
An estimated 343,253 acres have burned across the state so far in 2024, compared to 22,439 acres burned by this time last year, according to Cal Fire.
A 42-year-old man, identified as Ronnie Dean Stout II, has been arrested after being accused of igniting the inferno.
Witnesses reported seeing someone "pushing a car that was on fire into a gully near the Alligator Hole in upper Bidwell Park shortly before 3:00 p.m. yesterday," Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey said Thursday.
"The car went down an embankment approximately 60 feet and burned completely, spreading flames that caused the Park Fire."
The DA says the man was seen "calmly leaving the area by blending in with the other citizens who were in the area and fleeing the rapidly evolving fire."
Stout was later arrested at a mobile home park in Chico, Ramsey said.
Stout will likely face an arson charge, though it is unclear what count, or whether any enhancements will be added, Ramsey said.
The DA's office told CNN Stout has not retained an attorney and will be assigned a public defender at his arraignment.
'Wall of flames' destroys homes and businesses in Canadian tourist town
In Jasper, a popular tourist town in Alberta, 25,000 residents and visitors were forced to evacuate from a fast-moving blaze that has damaged 30 to 50 per cent of the town's structures, officials said during a press conference on Thursday.
"Homes and businesses have been lost to a wildfire that people are calling a 'wall of flames,'" Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said.
An "enormous wind gust" moved the wildfire roughly about 3 miles in "probably less than 30 minutes," Alberta Minister of Public Safety & Emergency Services Mike Ellis said during the press conference.
This created "a wall of fire that was about 100 meters high."
"Any firefighter will tell you there is little to nothing you can do when you have a wall of flames coming at you like that. Nobody anticipated that fire to come so fast, so large," Ellis said.
Damage wrought by the flames will result in "a significant rebuild and significant displacement," Smith said.
The most significant structural damage lies on the west side of town, according to a Facebook post from Jasper National Park.
"We will recover from this," Smith said while holding back tears.
"To those in Alberta and around the world who have experienced the magic of Jasper, the magic is not lost, and it never will be."
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The vast majority of evacuees were "visitors with other places to return to," Ellis said.
Jasper Mayor Richard Ireland said residents will work together to rebuild after the wildfire "ravaged our beloved community."
"Your resilience and strength have always been the backbone of our community. In the coming days and weeks, we will rally together, support one another, and begin the daunting process of recovery," Ireland said in a statement on Thursday.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said all federal agencies are working together to provide resources to Jasper, support evacuations and strengthen response efforts on the ground.
"Our governments are working together to keep Albertans safe and supported through this," he said on Facebook.
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