Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has traveled to Alberta to show support for military personnel sent to the Western Province to fight wildfires that are still burning and have forced thousands to evacuate.
Trudeau arrived in the county seat of Edmonton Thursday for an update on firefighting efforts.
Canadian soldiers were sent last week to help with firefighting and recovery efforts, according to the Alberta government, with additional troops expected to arrive in the coming days.
Members of the Canadian Forces “have been deployed to provide firefighting support, help evacuate isolated communities and ensure people are safe,” Trudeau tweeted after his visit.
“Today we stopped by to get an update from those on the ground – and to thank them for the work they are doing.”
The widespread fires have marked an intense start to the wildfire season in the oil-rich province, forcing more than 30,000 people to leave their homes at one point and reducing production of at least 319,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, or 3.7 percent of the national production, came to a standstill. .
Last week, as wildfires raged in Alberta, we approved the province’s request for federal aid. @CanadianForces members have been deployed to provide firefighting support, help evacuate isolated communities, and ensure people are safe. Today we stopped by to… pic.twitter.com/eiFzeO8TyN
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) May 15, 2023
According to Environment and Climate Change Canada, the first 11 days of May set seasonal heat records in several parts of Alberta, including Edmonton.
The forecast for the province shows a cold front moving through from Tuesday evening that would bring gusts of wind, a slight chance of thunder, but not much rain, said Sara Hoffman, a meteorologist with Environment Canada.
“We are very concerned about the possibility of dry lightning in an area that already has a pretty high fire risk,” Hoffman said. Hot and dry conditions are expected to pick up again from Friday and are unlikely to ease until at least early next week.
As of Monday afternoon, there were still 87 wildfires in the province, according to an Alberta Wildfire data trackerof which 25 are considered unmanageable.
More than 19,000 people had also evacuated their homes as of Sunday, up from 16,500 on Friday.
Bill Blair, Canada’s emergency preparedness minister, told reporters in Edmonton on Monday afternoon that weather conditions, particularly very hot temperatures, played a major role in the ongoing fires.
“Fire activity here in Alberta has started earlier than normally expected. It’s almost without precedent to have this level of fire activity in the county,” Blair said.
“It looks like these hot, dry, windy conditions could continue for several days, and it’s clear we’re here for the long haul.”
Many experts have pointed to climate change as a factor that has exacerbated extreme weather events such as wildfires, heat waves and tropical storms around the world.
In 2016, wildfires in Alberta’s oil sands region disrupted oil production, displacing 100,000 residents of Fort McMurray and hitting the Canadian economy.
A brutal heat wave in the country’s westernmost province, British Columbia, led to hundreds of deaths in 2021. The heat also sparked dozens of wildfires, forcing evacuations and flattening entire communities.
On Sunday, Alberta Wildfires official Josee St-Onge said at a briefing that the peak period for Alberta, “when temperatures are hottest and fuels are driest, is still ahead of us.”
“It is too early to say when we will see the peak of this wildfire season,” said St-Onge. “We remain challenged.”