While the province has opened several shelters for evacuees, many of them have fled with their motorhomes or caravans and gathered on vacant lots.
Thousands of evacuees, villages reduced to ashes, oil installations shut down: two days after declaring a state of emergency, the Canadian province of Alberta on Monday asked for help from the federal government to fight “unprecedented” fires.
Early Monday afternoon, nearly a hundred forest or brush fires were still active in the province, including 27 considered “out of control” by the authorities.
“Alberta has requested assistance from the federal government to deal with the devastating fires. Prime Minister Trudeau assured me that Canada will be there to support us in any way possible,” said the premier of the province. Danielle Smith, who spoke of “unprecedented” fires on Saturday.
“Canadians stand with the people of Alberta who are coping with these terrible wildfires,” said Justin Trudeau.
Abnormally dry conditions
Firefighters focus on those that threaten homes. Around the main city of Edmonton, many roads were closed to traffic on Monday with numerous helicopters overhead.
Several oil companies (Vermilion Energy and Crescent Point Energy, in particular) indicated on Monday that they had to interrupt their production in places because of the fires.
Alberta, like its two neighbours, British Columbia and Saskatchewan, is currently experiencing “abnormally dry” conditions and even “severe drought” in places, according to the latest Canadian government surveys.
In recent years, western Canada has been hit repeatedly by extreme weather events, the intensity and frequency of which have increased due to global warming. In 2021, a “historic” heat dome killed hundreds and was followed by major fires.
The authorities hope that the arrival of cooler temperatures and a little rain since Sunday, at least in the south of the province, will help contain the situation.
