Canada’s Wildfires Trigger Mass Evacuations

(MENAFN) Wildfires raging across western and central Canada have triggered the evacuation of over 26,000 residents, impacting communities in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, officials and media outlets report.

The Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre revealed that, as of Sunday, 187 wildfires remain active nationwide, with 97 classified as “out of control.”

Local sources indicate that evacuations have displaced more than 17,000 people in Manitoba, approximately 8,000 in Saskatchewan, and around 1,300 in Alberta.

On X, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the activation of the federal Incident Response Group in response to the escalating wildfire crisis, which has necessitated large-scale evacuations and military support.

Carney confirmed deployment of Canadian Armed Forces personnel to assist with air evacuations, specifically in Manitoba’s Mathias Colomb Cree Nation community.

The Prime Minister also pledged that the federal government will match donations to the Red Cross for wildfire relief efforts and is collaborating with provincial and Indigenous leaders to safeguard affected populations.

“The scale and complexity of these air evacuations cannot be overstated,” Carney emphasized on X.

Multiple evacuation centers have been established across Manitoba, including one in Winkler, just 12 miles from the U.S. border. Smoke from the fires has drifted south, reducing air quality in parts of the U.S. Upper Midwest and Great Lakes regions, leading to health alerts.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed on Saturday the deployment of an air tanker and 150 firefighters to support firefighting efforts in Alberta.

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