Thousands evacuated in Canadian provinces as wildfires threaten air quality
Smoke was worsening air quality and reducing visibility in Canada and some US states along the border.
More than 25,000 residents in three provinces have been evacuated as dozens of wildfires remained active on Sunday and diminished air quality in parts of Canada and the US, according to officials.
Most of the evacuated residents were from Manitoba, which declared a state of emergency last week.
About 17,000 people there were evacuated by Saturday along with 1,300 in Alberta. About 8,000 people in Saskatchewan had been relocated as leaders warned the number could climb.
Smoke was worsening air quality and reducing visibility in Canada and some US states along the border.
“Air quality and visibility due to wildfire smoke can fluctuate over short distances and can vary considerably from hour to hour,” Saskatchewan’s Public Safety Agency warned. “As smoke levels increase, health risks increase.”
Saskatchewan premier Scott Moe said ongoing hot, dry weather is allowing some fires to grow and threaten communities, and resources to fight the fires and support the evacuees are stretched thin.
“The next four to seven days are absolutely critical until we can find our way to changing weather patterns, and ultimately a soaking rain throughout the north,” Mr Moe said at a news conference.
In Manitoba, more than 5,000 of those evacuated are from Flin Flon, located nearly 400 miles north-west of the provincial capital of Winnipeg. In northern Manitoba, fire knocked out power to the community of Cranberry Portage, forcing a mandatory evacuation order on Saturday for about 600 residents.
The fire menacing Flin Flon began a week ago near Creighton, Saskatchewan, and quickly jumped the boundary into Manitoba. Crews have struggled to contain it. Water bombers have been intermittently grounded due to heavy smoke and a drone incursion.
The US Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service deployed an air tanker to Alberta and said it would send 150 firefighters and equipment to Canada.
In some parts of the US, air quality reached “unhealthy” levels on Sunday in North Dakota and small swathes of Montana, Minnesota and South Dakota, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency’s AirNow page.
“We should expect at least a couple more rounds of Canadian smoke to come through the US over the next week,” said Bryan Jackson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in the US.
Separately, a fire in the US border state of Idaho burned 50 acres and prompted road closures, according to Idaho State Police.
Evacuation centres have opened across Manitoba for those fleeing the fires, one as far south as Winkler, 12 miles from the US border.
Canada’s wildfire season runs from May through to September. Its worst-ever wildfire season was in 2023. It choked much of North America with dangerous smoke for months.
