Plumes of black smoke can be seen from afar over a burning area of over 100 hectares in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada.
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, OTTAWA – The Canadian province of Alberta declared a state of emergency on Saturday (6/5/2023). He answers Forest fires which is increasingly widespread and has forced 25,000 residents of the province to flee. Such a crisis is said to be unprecedented.
“We have declared a state of emergency for the province to protect the safety, health and well-being of Albertans,” Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said at a press conference. after a meeting of his government’s emergency management committee.
He explained that the declaration of a state of emergency gave the Alberta government more powers to respond to extreme situations. This includes mobilizing additional resources and opening an emergency fund. Thousands of Alberta residents who did not evacuate have been told to prepare to leave. The rate of fire due to the strong gusts of wind factor has increased to 110. A third of the fires are listed as “out of control”.
Danielle Smith revealed that Alberta had a hot, dry spring. According to him, in such conditions, it only takes a few sparks to burn dry wood and then start widespread forest fires. “These conditions have resulted in an unprecedented situation that our province faces today,” he said.
According to Smith, more than 20 communities have been evacuated and at least 122,000 hectares of forest have burned so far. Canada’s Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair said the central government stands ready to provide federal aid to Alberta if needed.
Almost all of Alberta and the neighboring province of Saskatchewan and much of the Northwest Territories are at extreme fire risk. In recent years, Western Canada has been repeatedly hit by extreme weather conditions. The intensity and frequency are increasing due to global warming.
Wildfires in Canada’s oil sands region in 2016 disrupted production and forced 100,000 residents out of Fort McMurray. The event hit the Canadian economy hard. Then in 2021, the westernmost province of British Columbia experienced record high temperatures in a summer that killed more than 500 people. The increase in extreme temperatures around this time also sparked wildfires that destroyed the entire city.
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