EPA-EFE / ShutterstockA military plane and helicopters are used to evacuate residents of the Canadian province of Manitoba from rapidly evolving forest fires.
Thousands of people have already evacuated Western Canada, in particular the central provinces of the Saskatchewan and Manitoba meadows, while firefighters face increasing flames and hot predictions and dry times in the coming days.
The dense smoke of fires – of which there are more than 180s according to the officials – has spread across Canada and in certain parts of the United States.
Saskatchewan and Manitoba have declared the emergency states for next month and have requested international aid to fight fires.
Large parts of Alberta and British Columbia also ordered evacuations as fires spread.
The evacuation of residents of the Northern First Nations Community of Pukatawan is a “rapidly evolving situation,” a manitoba official at the BBC told.
The Canadian Armed Forces, Manitoba Wildfire Service and the Manitoba research and urban rescue team used a military plane and helicopters to bring people in safety from the Northern Manitoba community.
Friday, more than 2,000 people were still to be transported from Pukatawan.
In Flin Flon, a city of 5,000 people in Manitoba, only firefighters and support workers are left in the city.
In Manitoba, there are a total of 25 fires which burn, according to the report on the situation of fires in the province, with 10 classified out of control.
While Manitoba faces the most difficult conditions, other provinces also deal with the worsening of forest fires.
In Saskatchewan, 16 forest fires are burning on Saturday, with seven classified as not contained. The Canadian Center for Foreign Internsitations (CIFFC) has classified conditions in the province as extreme.
Danielle Desjardins, a meteorologist with an environment and a Canada climate change based in Winnipeg, told BBC that forecasts for the two provinces are not promising.
While a cold front should strike certain parts of the Saskatchewan, it will not bring relief to the regions where the fires burn.
“The bad news of this cold front is that it will be windy,” said Ms. Desjardins, adding that the wind, associated with heat and lack of rain, are privileged conditions for the spread of forest fires.
Fire smoke also left around 22 million Americans under air quality this weekend.
The opinions of Michigan and Wisconsin are currently in place.
In northern Minnesota, residents have been warned of smoke could reach “unhealthy for everyone” levels, while the rest of the state faces air quality warnings for sensitive groups. This alert takes place until Monday evening.
Canada had its worst forest season recorded in 2023, when more than 42 million acres (17.3 million hectares) burned.
Fires occur naturally in many regions of the world, including Canada.
But climate change means that the weather required for forest fires are more likely, according to the UN climate body.
Extreme and durable heat is getting more and more humidity from the soil and vegetation.
