Firefighters work to contain 84 large blazes burning across the western US

Evacuation orders in effect in parts of California and elsewhere, while fire in Oregon is largest active US blaze

Firefighters across North America are working intensively on containing wildfires across the region on Thursday, including in areas of California, Washington, Oregon, and other states, as well as parts of Canada, as heatwaves reaching record-breaking temperatures continue.

The US National Interagency Fire Center said in a report on Wednesday that there were 84 uncontained large fires burning across the country. In a statement, the center said that many of the wildfires in the north-west were exhibiting “extreme fire behavior”, and that evacuation orders were in effect as of Wednesday on 15 fires including in parts of California, the Northern Rockies and the Great Basin, the center said, with more than 21,000 wildland firefighters across the country working on managing the flames.