The Rain didn’t stop the Fire: International firefighters to arrive
More foreign firefighters are expected to arrive on Wednesday to help in the fight against Canada’s worst wildfire season of the twenty-first century.The public safety minister for Quebec has said that Portugal and Spain will send more troops. According to Francois Bonnardel on Tuesday, the presence this week of two contingents of American firefighters has also aided the firefighting efforts. Storms may provide much-needed rain to many parts of the country, but meteorologists don’t think it will be enough to halt the threat of wildfires.
As more than 7,200 people continued to be forced from their homes owing to flames, a wet forecast in Quebec offered optimism for advancement in the firefighting effort. In addition to rain, thunderstorms and a danger of lightning are also predicted for much of Western Canada. In Alberta, almost 14,000 people were still outside of their houses.
READ MORE: Now even Province of Ontario is burning
Few days of light to medium perception in Quebec and in Ontario was just not enough to extinguish the fire. It slowed the progress but it did not succeed to get that massive fire out for good.
Now that the fire is still active in many Canadian provinces more international fire fighter brigades will drive in Canada. As firemen from all over the world arrive in Canada to help fight the raging wildfires, the arrival of 215 South African firefighters in Edmonton on Sunday is brightening the situation in a special manner.
Crews in Quebec are attempting to put out hundreds of fires that the nice weather has momentarily dampened. The 117 wildfires in Quebec serve as a stark reminder of how unprecedented the spring fire season has been, which has forced tens of thousands to from their homes and poisoned the air for more than 100 million people in eastern North America. 740,000 hectares of boreal forest have already been burned by wildfires in Quebec, more than 300 times the average for the spring season over the previous ten years.
Roughly 350 firemen from the EU will join the roughly 1,000 other frontline workers in the upcoming days. On Wednesday, more than 140 firemen from Portugal and almost 100 from Spain will arrive in Quebec City.
READ MORE: 2023 the Year of Wildfires in Canada
Officials in western Canada have watched as new fires emerge and approach inhabited areas in a hazardous manner despite advances in Quebec. Friday saw the second evacuation of the Alberta town of Edson this year when a neighbouring fire jumped fireguards and came dangerously close to the neighbourhood.
British Columbia, which is nearby, is also struggling with recent fires that have forced locals from their homes. Officials issued a warning of “immediate danger to life safety” in the province’s northeast and commanded the evacuation of the Tumbler Ridge and Peace River regional districts.
New evacuation orders were issued by authorities in connection with the Donnie Creek fire, which has spread to an area larger than 350,000 hectares and breached containment lines set up by fire workers.
