Wildfires continue to grow in western Canada and evacuations continued on Sunday May 7, bringing the total to nearly 30,000 displaced in a few days, an "unprecedented" situation at this time of year. On Saturday, the province of Alberta had to declare a state of emergency after ordering the evacuation of some 25,000 people. By early Sunday evening, 107 forest or brush fires were still active in the province, 28 of which were not under control by firefighters.
"We had light scattered showers in the southern part of the province," Christie Tucker, the province's relief spokesperson, said at a Sunday news conference in Edmonton. "This allowed the firefighters to attack some areas that they hadn't been able to approach due to the extreme behavior of the fires," she added, referring to "good news." But this slight lull "unfortunately" does not concern the north of the province where conditions remain very difficult, she further specified.
In their fight against the fires, the authorities are concentrating on inhabited areas. Drayton Valley, a town of 7,000 people in Alberta about 140 kilometers west of Edmonton, is one of the evacuated communities. In Fox Lake, northern Alberta, a massive fire destroyed 20 homes, a store and a police station. Residents were evacuated by boat and helicopter.
"All it takes is a few sparks"
The conditions remain unstable and according to the authorities it is difficult to determine precisely in the immediate future the extent of the damage. "In some cases, the smoke and current conditions prevent us from fully assessing property losses," said Colin Blair of the Alberta Emergency Management Agency. This Canadian province, one of the world's largest oil producers, "had a hot, dry spring and with so much kindling, it only takes a few sparks to start some really scary fires," the premier said on Saturday. Provincial Minister Danielle Smith.
Two out-of-control wildfires in neighboring British Columbia have also prompted some people to flee their homes, and authorities have warned they expect high winds to push the fires larger in the coming days. Firefighters from Ontario and Quebec arrived in the province and were deployed to various regions.
In recent years, western Canada has been repeatedly hit by extreme weather events, the intensity and frequency of which are increased by global warming. In addition to catastrophic flooding, British Columbia was also hit two years ago by the effects of a "historic" heat dome, which claimed hundreds of lives and was followed by large fires.
