Additional Canadian soldiers sent to help fight wildfires

OTTAWA, July 20 (Xinhua) -- The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) are sending 225 additional soldiers to British Columbia province in the country to assist in the ongoing emergency response to the wildfires, according to the National Defence Ministry of Canada Thursday.

This follows an additional request for Federal Assistance from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Before Thursday, hundreds of soldiers were sent to the wildfire area.

Some 150 wildfires continue to burn across the province and about 45,000 people are still under evacuation order or alert in the province after a lightning storm ignited brush parched in forests from weeks of hot, dry weather in early July.