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What happened: Female firefighters taking part in a Women-in-Fire Training Exchange program—intended to promote "mental health and gender diversity and inclusion"—accidentally caused an "out of control" forest fire in Banff National Park. Residents in the surrounding areas were evacuated and several buildings were damaged on May 3 after the female firefighters initiated a prescribed burn that quickly escalated into an uncontrolled blaze. Context: Banff National Park is in Canada, where South American migrants have been fleeing to escape the lawless squalor of America's big cities. What they're saying: Days before the conference, local news outlets were celebrating the women's fire...

BANFF, Alta. - One of the most popular hiking and biking trails in Banff National Park is bringing in restrictions at the height of the summer tourist season due to fears of bear attacks. The Lake Minnewanka Trail has been a favourite haunt for hikers and mountain bikers for decades. There are over three million visitors to the park each year and many of them take to the 32-kilometre trail northeast of the Banff townsite.Until Sept. 15, it will be mandatory for hikers to travel in groups of at least four. At least one of the individuals will be required...

Melissa Brandts and her husband were surprised to find a squirrel posing with them in a photo taken on holiday. The couple had set the timer on their camera while posing at a lakeside in a national park in Canada. Just as they were about to be captured on camera the cheeky squirrel popped up in the foreground and stole the show. The picture was taken at the side of the stunning Lake Minnewanka in Banff National Park, Canada. Mrs Brandts said: "We had our camera set up on some rocks and were getting ready to take the picture when...

It could be all that fresh mountain air. Or maybe it's the altitude, a different time zone or even jet lag. Otherwise there's no excuse for what makes tourists ask the dumbest questions. There are some real gems, and it happens all the time. Just ask the patient and good-natured folks who make a living showing tourists around Banff National Park. "We get a broader range of people (in summer)," says Daymon Miller, general manager of Discover Banff Tours. "They're coming from a broad range of urban centres with generally no concept of the wilderness." When the speak-before-thinking zinger is...

Why this mountain? My little puzzle is: I have a specific reason for posting these pictures now of the photogenic Mount Assiniboine in Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park, Alberta (adjacent to Banff and Kootenay National Parks). Anybody astute enough to guess what the reason is? (Click all but the second for full-size.)

A black bear chased, caught and mauled a bicycle rider on a mountain trail in Canada's oldest and most popular national park, and was shot and killed when it refused to leave the area, a warden said. The biker, Greg Flaaten, 41, a Web administrator for the town of Banff, was being treated for severe arm injuries at Foothills Hospital in Calgary following the attack, and reconstructive surgery in the biceps and triceps area was scheduled Monday. Authorities initially feared Flaaten might lose his arm, but that concern was eased when a key artery was found to be intact, maintaining...

BANFF, Alberta Three ice climbers were killed after being caught in an avalanche in Banff National Park, Canadian officials said. Their names and home towns were not released pending notification of next of kin but early reports indicated they were from the United States, said Parks Canada spokeswoman Shelley Humphries. The three, part of two climbing parties, were on Mount Wilson north of Lake Louise when the avalanche apparently knocked them off their climbing route Thursday.