On his way Monday for an official trip to Asia, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stopped in Edmonton to meet with military personnel deployed to fight the wildfires in Alberta, which worsened with the beautiful weather of the weekend. .
During a stopover at the military base in Edmonton, Mr. Trudeau, accompanied by the Minister of Emergency Preparedness, Bill Blair, was informed of the new threats linked to rising temperatures and drought in Alberta.
About 300 Canadian military personnel are deployed across the province to fight the wildfires, which have forced thousands of people to flee their rural homes and properties.
Prior to the briefing, Minister Blair said such a level of fire activity in Alberta was “almost unprecedented.” He said Ottawa was in talks with the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Mexico to bring in additional firefighters.
Reservists, dressed in yellow jumpsuits and bright blue hard hats, marched through charred forest near Drayton Valley at the weekend.
Alongside firefighters, they used machinery, shovels and water to douse smoldering trees and hot spots. Photos of the operation show soldiers in smoky forests around burned vehicles.
Adam Norris was watering his property near Drayton Valley on Monday morning, more than a week after a fire torched his farm and land. A home, garage, vehicles, animals and irreplaceable family possessions were lost.
“I run on a lot of coffee and adrenaline,” Mr Norris said as he continued to battle hotspots that flared up in the weekend heat.
Authorities warn that rising temperatures, which have been a problem for firefighting crews in the north of the province, are now becoming a concern in the south.
Alberta Wildfire’s Josée St-Onge said conditions in the south aren’t as extreme, but the government may need to shift resources to be ready to respond quickly to new outbreaks.
Mme St-Onge said Sunday that the fire crews were in the forests of the Rocky Mountains and Calgary, in the south, and could be reinforced by resources from the north or from outside the province.
86 active lights
The number of evacuees in Alberta rose to more than 19,300 on Sunday, with 23 of 86 active wildfires considered “out of control” Monday morning.
Crews have made significant progress in battling the blaze threatening Brazeau County, southwest of Edmonton, which includes the town of Drayton Valley, county officials said Monday.
“Today will be hot and dry again, but crews continue to extinguish hot spots near residences,” it said.
More than 200 people are working the line of fire, the county said, adding that thermal scans were used to identify hot spots.
Mr. Norris is well aware that many neighbors and other members of the community are eager to return home. But it’s just not safe, he said. “There are places that are still burning here,” he warned.
Members of the Cree community of Little Red River in northern Alberta, which has been under an evacuation order for nearly two weeks, are struggling, said Darryel Sowan, communications coordinator for village emergency management. There has been significant damage there, houses are destroyed and the forest fire remains uncontrollable.
” [La] community is doing the best it can under the circumstances, but [tout le monde] of course wants to go home,” Mr Sowan said in an email.
Elsewhere in the West
Wildfires have also been a concern in neighboring provinces and territories.
Parts of the Peace River region of British Columbia are still under evacuation orders. In the southern Northwest Territories, the K’atl’odeeche First Nation ordered an evacuation on Sunday afternoon.
And in Saskatchewan, a wildfire near the northern community of Buffalo Narrows has triggered a state of emergency. Some residents leave because the smoke is damaging their health and there is no power.
Fires in the West have drifted smoke all the way to Ontario. Environment Canada has issued special air quality bulletins for northern Saskatchewan, Manitoba and northwestern Ontario.
The federal ministry points out that people with lung disease (such as asthma) or heart disease, the elderly, children, pregnant women and people who work outside are at greater risk of suffering from effects of wildfire smoke on their health.
This dispatch was produced with financial assistance from Meta Exchange and The Canadian Press for News.