Early forest fires prompt evacuations in Canada May 13, 2024

Forest in fire Pexels

By AFP - Agence France Presse

Early forest fires prompt evacuations in Canada

May 13, 2024

Thousands of people fled their homes on Sunday in western Canada, as hundreds of forest fires that started earlier than usual foreshadow a difficult fire season.

The small town of Fort Nelson, in the province of British Columbia, was among the areas threatened by the blazes.

“The fires are all around us, from the west to the northeast,” Mayor Rob Fraser told AFP, as he urged hundreds of people who remained to leave the town.

A fire covering an area of 2,500 hectares (6,200 acres) was burning 3.5 kilometers (two miles) west of Fort Nelson. Around 3,500 people were evacuated on Friday night.

Cooler weather overnight helped slow the fire's advance, but strong winds increased in the afternoon, which could fan the flames, Fraser said.

The city is facing the highest level of drought on a five-stage scale, he added, and “that makes it extremely difficult to try to control these forest fires”.

In the neighboring province of Alberta, 43 fires were burning, including one 15 kilometers from the city of Fort McMurray, forcing people to prepare for possible evacuations.

The city is located in a forested area known for tar sand oil production.

In 2016, it was hit by a wildfire that caused the evacuation of 90,000 people, in a major catastrophe that destroyed 2,500 buildings and billions of dollars in damage.

Evacuation orders were also issued over the weekend in small towns in the provinces of Alberta and Manitoba, as smoke from the forest fires spread across much of western Canada, drastically reducing air quality, the federal government said.

Last week, the government published an update saying that higher-than-normal temperatures in the coming months, together with drought conditions, will increase the risk of forest fires - and their intensity.

Last year was the worst in Canadian history in terms of forest fires, with flames burning from coast to coast and charring more than 15 million hectares of land. Eight firefighters died and 230,000 people were evacuated.

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