2214 fires have already consumed 3.3 million hectares. Here are the terrifying data from the wildfires of an unprecedented scale that have been ravaging Canada for more than a month, according to the federal government. And if nearly 120,000 people have already been evacuated, 26,200 others are leaving their homes.
Alberta, a province in the west of the country, was the first area to ignite in early May. Since then, Canada has tried to control hundreds of forest fires by declaring a state of emergency on May 6. Nearly 30,000 people were then ordered to leave their homes in a few days because more than twenty fires were out of control. The western province, home to the world’s third-largest oil reserves, trembled at the risk.
Nearly 2,500 firefighters came from across Canada, as well as 400 soldiers, to try to control the fires that were ravaging the province of Alberta.
By mid-May, the fires had spread to almost four different regions: Alberta, but also Saskatchewan, British Columbia and the Northwest Territories. On May 17, Canada launched an appeal for international assistance.
At the end of May, the east of the country became the epicenter of the fires. Nearly 16,000 people are forced from their homes in the suburbs northeast of Halifax, Nova Scotia. The flames threatened the city of more than 400,000 inhabitants.
In early June, rain came to relieve Nova Scotia firefighters as they struggled to put out the flames. 85% of the forest fire that threatened Halifax was thus brought under control, moving it from “out of control” to “stable”.
But Canada could afford no respite. Hundreds of fires were active in Quebec, a province west of Nova Scotia.
And the smoke from these fires moved more than 800 kms south of Quebec, until it darkened New York.
The city of more than 8.5 million people was shrouded in an eerie yellow-orange fog. The city has indeed become for a few hours the most polluted in the world, overtaking New Delhi.
The authorities have recommended that people at risk stay at home and protect themselves with a mask. “If you are a New Yorker with heart or respiratory problems, be careful when you are outdoors”, “try to limit outdoor activities today to what is absolutely necessary”, they alerted on Twitter.
214 fires are still active across the country, including 93 out of control, according to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Joe Biden thus offered his help to Canada on Wednesday, June 7. “The President has directed his team to deploy all federal firefighting assets that can quickly help extinguish fires affecting Canadian and American communities,” a White House statement said.
