WILDFIRE FORCES THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE TO EVACUATE IN EASTERN CANADA

Mon 29 May 2023:

Rare and “very aggressive” spring wildfires, in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia have destroyed many buildings and forced thousands from their homes and prompting officials to declare a local state of emergency.

According to the fire department, the blaze in the community of Tantallon, was “ongoing and still not under control” Fourteen thousand people had been asked, to leave their homes.

Late Sunday night, Halifax city declared a local state of emergency in the affected areas, that was set to last for at least a week.

With no rain set to fall in the coming days, officials are hopeful that winds will push the fire backwards, but warned there could still be “significant fire”, with unburned fuels in the area igniting.

While western Canada experiences arid summers, dry forests and frequent wildfires, large and destructive blazes in Nova Scotia are relatively rare. The largest fire to ever hit the province was in 1976, when a blaze 10 miles wide destroyed nearly Thirteen thousand hectares.

The provinces of Alberta and British Columbia in western Canada also have been dealing with unusually warm weather that has sparked several out-of-control wildfires, cutting oil and gas production. However, most of those fires have since been brought under control.

Many experts have pointed to climate change as a factor that has worsened extreme weather such as wildfires, heatwaves and tropical storms around the world.

In 2016, forest fires in the Alberta oil sands region disrupted oil production, forced 100,000 residents out of Fort McMurray and pummelled the Canadian economy.

A brutal heatwave in British Columbia in 2021 led to hundreds of deaths. The heat also kicked off dozens of wildfires, forcing evacuations and burning entire communities to the ground.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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