Canada: Army Deployed to Help Fight Wildfires in British Columbia

By Staff, Agencies

Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that his country will deploy the military to tackle fast-spreading wildfires in British Columbia, as the western province deals with nearly 400 fires that have led to evacuation orders for more than 35,000 people.

British Columbia declared a state of emergency on Friday and imposed a ban on non-essential travel to free up accommodations for evacuees and firefighters, and urged drone operators and others capturing images of the fires to stay clear of rescue workers.

Trudeau said in a post on X that the federal government will offer support from the Canadian military “to help with evacuations, staging” and other logistical tasks in response to a request from the British Columbia government.

Canada is grappling with its worst wildfire season on record, with more than 200 fires burning in the nearby province of Northwest Territories.

In some cities in British Columbia, the air quality index [AQI], which measures major pollutants including particulate matter produced by fires, was above 350, a “hazardous” level, IQAir, a real-time air quality information platform showed.

West Kelowna fire chief Jason Brolund said he saw some hope after battling “epic” fires for the past four days. He said conditions have improved, helping firefighters to put “boots on the ground” and dump water on flames that threatened the town of 150,000.

“We are finally feeling like we are moving forward rather than moving backwards, and that’s a great feeling,” Brolund told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

Other fires, exacerbated by severe drought, have been reported closer to the United States border and in the US Pacific Northwest.

Just across the border in Washington state, firefighters battled two major blazes, the Gray Fire and the Oregon Road Fire, which combined had blackened more than 20,000 acres of forest and destroyed more than 100 structures.