Wildfire season on track to be 2nd-worst on record in Canada [Video]

This year’s wildfire season in Canada is shaping up to be the second-worst on record and federal officials are warning of a dangerous summer in parts of British Columbia.

Officials with several government departments held a technical briefing Thursday in Ottawa with an update on the state of multiple wildfires and its forecast for the coming months.

“We are expecting a hot and dry summer, and definitely leading to a forecast of increased fire danger conditions for much of western and northern Canada,” said Michael Norton, director general of the Northern Forestry Centre with Natural Resources Canada.

Wildfires have scorched 3.7 million hectares across the country so far — six times the area of Prince Edward Island.

Wildfires have consumed about 800,000 hectares on average annually …