RIAU24.COM – Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau described on Friday June 2 the situation in the country ravaged by bushfires as “frightening”. Canada is currently facing one of its worst starts to a wildfire season.
“It’s a scary time,” he said.
On Friday, a coastal town in Quebec ordered its approximately 10,000 residents to evacuate their homes. Wildfires are spreading across Eastern Canada and firefighting resources are already deployed to fight fires across the country.
Wildfires have burned more than 2.7 million hectares of land so far this year across Canada. This is equivalent to more than five million football fields, according to Federal Civil Protection Minister Bill Blair.
This is more than ten times the average area that has typically burned at this time of year over the past decade.
Blair told a news briefing Friday morning that there were 214 fires across Canada, 93 of which were out of control. 29,000 people were evacuated.
Wildfires are common in Canada's western provinces, but this year the eastern province of Nova Scotia is reeling from its worst fire season in history.
The Atlantic Coast province has seen nearly 200 forest fires. It burned more than 19,000 hectares and displaced more than 25,000 people. For comparison, 152 wildfires burned 3,380 hectares in 2022.
Evacuation in Quebec
Quebec MP Stéphane Lauzon said at a news conference in Ottawa that up to 10,000 residents, or a third of Sept-Îles' population, would be displaced.
Steeve Beaupré, mayor of Sept-Îles on the St. Lawrence River, declared a local state of emergency. He announced mandatory evacuations as nearby wildfires grew rapidly overnight.
In the morning, residents were asked to leave their homes at 4 p.m. local time.
Earlier, on Thursday, 500 residents of Chapais, in the north of the province, were evacuated.
“The situation is evolving rapidly in Quebec,” said Mr. Lauzon, adding that around a hundred fires, “more than yesterday,” were burning in the province, including around twenty out of control.
The forest fires broke out after significant outbreaks of flames in the west of the country in May, particularly in the Prairie provinces, Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Over the past week, firefighting has shifted to Nova Scotia on the Atlantic coast.
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