Ottawa answered Alberta’s call for help. The Canadian Armed Forces will come as reinforcements to fight the forest fires that are still raging in the province.
Federal Public Safety Minister Bill Blair made the announcement on Twitter on Wednesday evening.
We approved Alberta’s request for federal assistance as it continues to fight wildfires.
—Bill Blair (@BillBlair) May 11, 2023
The army will therefore go in support to fight the fires in Alberta and will offer “airlift resources” to the province for “logistical” purposes, “including” for “the evacuation of isolated communities”.
Also on Twitter, Mr. Blair stressed that the support of the Armed Forces was in addition to the assistance already provided to the province.
Defense Minister Anita Anand, for her part, assured that the army was ready, planes and personnel having already been “pre-positioned” to intervene.
???? Alberta: Our @CanadianForces are ready to help Canadians — and we have pre-positioned planes and personnel. We stand with Albertans and we are here to support the province’s efforts to deal with the wildfire situation. https://t.co/f1sG525fGQ
— Anita Anand (@AnitaAnandMP) May 11, 2023
“We stand with Albertans,” she wrote.
Emergency state
Even though the number of people evacuated to flee wildfires in Alberta plummeted on Wednesday, thousands of people remain out of their homes.
Colin Blair, director of the Alberta Emergency Management Agency, calculated that the number of people away from home had fallen to less than 18,000, down from 6,000.
“Alberta continues to be under a provincial state of emergency,” he said Wednesday.
The danger of forest fires, among other things, forced the evacuation of part of a First Nation southwest of Edmonton.
Firefighters were battling 76 active wildfires Wednesday afternoon, 24 of which were out of control, according to Christie Tucker of Alberta Wildfire.
She said activity is expected to increase as temperature increases and humidity decreases later in the week, according to forecasts.
Firefighters from the Yukon, British Columbia, Ontario, Manitoba and Quebec arrived in Alberta to help.
The Alberta government said Tuesday that crews are also expected from New Brunswick, Oregon and Alaska.
With The Canadian Press