Enormous wildfires, growing in intensity, have been devouring forests in central and western Canada for days, forcing thousands of people to evacuate. A thick blanket of smoke threatens to invade the northern United States, and the dry, hot, and windy weather shows no signs of changing.
There are 170 fire fronts, at least half of which are out of control, in what appears to be an early fire season. The emergency has been declared by the premiers of the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, while the federal agency Environment Canada has issued the highest level of alert (extreme) in the provinces of Alberta, Ontario, and the Northwest Territories.
According to data from Cbc News, a Canadian partner of CNN, around 17,000 people in Manitoba are under evacuation orders in the city of Flin Flon and the Cree native communities of Pimicikamak, Cross Lake, and Pukatawagan. In the latter native community, also known as Mathias Colomb, about 2,000 residents are stranded after dense smoke forced the airport to close on Thursday, as Chief of the First Nations Gordie Bear told Cbc. “We are desperate. The situation is getting more difficult,” Bear said.
In the United States, experts estimate that the smoke will travel through the Great Lakes over the weekend, threatening the cities of Green Bay, Wisconsin, as well as Milwaukee, Chicago, and Detroit.
CNN reports that Canada experienced its worst wildfire season in history in 2023, when extreme heat and drought contributed to fires that burned over 4,500 hectares. Last year’s fire season was the second worst of the century in Canada.
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