West Canada’s wildfires gradually decrease

A lull in high temperatures brought some relief Wednesday from wildfires in Alberta in western Canada as reinforcements arrived to help fight the fires.

Authorities said 76 wildfires are still active in the province, compared to 110 a few days ago. Twenty-three people are still considered unsupervised.

Several Canadian provinces — as well as the US states of Oregon and Alaska — have dispatched reinforcements to battle wildfires, which authorities said could flare up again as high temperatures return over the weekend.

“We are very pleased to have new resources from our colleagues across Canada and our colleagues in the United States. And I think this will be a much needed boost to the firefighters who have been involved in this, some of them around the clock,” Kristi Tucker, a spokeswoman for the relief effort, said at a news conference. For a long time “.

Authorities said the number of evacuees from fire-stricken areas fell to 24,000, down from about 30,000 at the end of last week.

At least one oil company, Tourmaline, has reopened seven of its nine facilities in Alberta, one of the world’s largest oil-producing regions. It added in a statement that the other two facilities are expected to start operating “in the next two days.”

Alberta has experienced a dry geyser that has led to wildfires. The vast majority of fires are man-made.

Mayor Alan Gamble of Parkland County expressed relief that “all evacuees” have returned home and two highways leading into the county have reopened.

In the northern part of the county, some Aboriginal villages were severely affected, such as the Cree community of Little Red River.

“There has been a significant loss of infrastructure, no lives thank God, but 4,000 people have been evacuated, and over 150 homes have been destroyed or demolished,” said Patti Hajdu, Federal Minister for Indigenous Services.

In Yellowhead County, including Evansburg (west of Edmonton), residents were allowed to go home Wednesday morning.

“The risk of wildfires has been reduced thanks to firefighting efforts and a shift in weather,” the province said in a statement.

But she warned that “forest fires may still be active in the area”.

In Fox Creek, low temperatures and low winds allowed firefighters to fortify containment lines to prevent the fires from spreading.

“Don’t let the current horizon and clear skies fool you,” the province said in a warning. “This fire is out of control and burning deep in the ground. It’s a sleeping giant. The situation can change quickly.”

© 2023 AFP