Wildfire smoke has sparked the national weather agency to issue air quality warnings around the county of Grande Prairie and the northwestern corner of Alberta, and air quality statements for much of northern Alberta.

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) has issued an air quality alert for areas in northern Minnesota.

The air quality alert may need to be extended into Monday if an additional batch of heavy smoke materializes from Manitoba and Saskatchewan wildfires and is transported into and across

Lightning, which is more common in hotter temperatures, is usually the cause of wildfires that burn the most land. In 2023, scientists at Canada’s natural resources department found that lightning sparked fires that burned 93 percent of the total wildfire area, and the remaining seven percent of the area burned from human causes.

Smoke from wildfires in Canada has spread more than 5,000 miles, reaching parts of Russia and Europe during the past week.