Toronto (Canada) (EFE)
A situation that the country’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, did not hesitate to describe as “terrifying” in a press appearance that he gave together with six ministers to underline the seriousness of the problem.
According to data provided by the Government of Canada, the country is registering an unusual number of fires for this time, which have caused the evacuation of 26,206 people.
So far in 2023, there have been 2,214 forest fires, which have consumed more than three million hectares of forest, when the average in the last decade was 1,624 fires and 254,429 hectares consumed, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources.
“Our forecasts indicate that this entire summer may be a particularly severe fire season,” Trudeau said at a news conference in Ottawa.
Active fires in Quebec
The head of the Canadian Government tried to reassure the population and stated that his Executive has “contingency plans” in case the situation worsens, which include the use of international aid.
One of the provinces most affected by the fires at the moment is Quebec, where more than 160 fires are burning, most of them out of control.
The magnitude of the fires in the French-speaking province is causing air quality throughout the province to drop to a minimum due to the smoke from the fires.
The Prime Minister of Quebec, Francois Legault, recommended this Monday to the inhabitants of the province to close their windows and avoid doing physical activities outside, especially people who suffer from respiratory problems.
specialized firefighters
Legault announced that Quebec is expecting the arrival of 200 firefighters specialized in fighting forest fires from France and the United States and that it is in talks with other countries, such as Costa Rica and Chile, to send more personnel if necessary.
In western Canada, in the provinces of British Columbia and Alberta, although the situation has improved in recent hours thanks to weather conditions, forest fires are also causing air quality problems in some areas.
In Alberta, fires have already consumed more than one million hectares of forest.
And on the Canadian Atlantic coast, in Nova Scotia, the fire-fighting services have managed to control the flames that threatened the city of Halifax, the most important in the province.