Advertisement

Updated July 4th, 2021 at 15:51 IST

Canada military to help firefighting efforts, evacuations as deadly wildfires rage on

Canada's British Columbia (BC) wildfire service will be getting military assistance over the next number of days to bring the wildfires under control.

Reported by: Zaini Majeed
Canada
IMAGE: Twitter/@karanktbd/@CanadianForces | Image:self
Advertisement

The Canadian armed forces were put on standby Saturday (July 3) to help evacuate the townships and areas where the wildfires raged on uncontrollably and to combat a dozen others spread across western Canada. The troops were deployed due to the heightened wildfire activity across several provinces that posed potential risks to public safety around Prince George, Caribou, and the Kamloops Fire Cente, fire information officer Jean Strong told Canadian broadcasters.

The British Columbia (BC) wildfire service will be getting military assistance over the next number of days to bring the situation under control, as at least 77 blazes were sparked in the last two days, Strong reportedly said. Several new ignitions near Logan Lake prompted the fire service to launch mass evacuations.

As the government in Ottawa warned of fires fuelled by record-breaking temperatures and tinder-dry conditions and issued evacuation orders, the Canadian military joined efforts with the firefighting service. The military forces prepared to tackle more than 174 active wildfires ravaging in suburbs of  British Columbia, and parts of the pacific northwest region, according to public broadcaster CBC.

Cautioning citizens about the "long and challenging summers” ahead, the director of provincial operations for the British Columbia Wildfire Service said that there were at least 12,000 lightning strikes, roughly, yesterday. And that, the high-pressure "heat dome" trapping warm air in the region was to be blamed for such dire conditions and scorching heatwave. 

[The Canadian Press via AP]

This week, Canada recorded its “highest ever temperature” with the mercury soaring to 46.6C (116 F) in Lytton, British Columbia on Sunday, shattering the 84-year-old record, according to weather reports. A village set a heat record of 49.6 degrees Celsius (121 degrees Fahrenheit). The persistent “dangerous” heatwave was attributed to climate change by the environmental activists and the experts.

The heat dome, not typically a meteorological term, is basically the areas of high pressures above Canada's Arctic regions, stretching across up to the United States' California, also currently battling wildfires, through Idaho. In Canada, the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, as well as parts of the Northwest Territories and northern Ontario were severely feeling the impact. 

[A helicopter pilot prepares to drop water on a wildfire burning in Lytton, British Columbia. Credit: AP]

[Credit: AP]

"The dry conditions and the extreme heat in British Columbia are unprecedented," Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said in televised remarks, Saturday. "These wildfires show that we are in the earliest stages of what promises to be a long and challenging summer,” he added. We will be there to help,” he promised.

Roughly 1,000 have fled their homes, and scores of inhabitants had gone missing. At least two deaths were recorded in British Columbia. In Oregon 94 died from the heat, according to the state medical examiner, as cited by the Canadian broadcasters.  Most heatwave-related fatalities occurred in Multnomah County, which encompasses Portland. As many as 40 structures were destroyed due to the severe heatwaves, as fresh blazes also erupted north of the city of Kamloops, 350 kilometers (220 miles) northeast of Vancouver. 

“I cannot stress enough how extreme the fire risk is at this time in almost every part of British Columbia and I urge British Columbians to listen carefully to officials in your communities and follow those directions,” provincial Premier John Horgan told Canadian reporters. 

PM Trudeau calls for 'response' meeting 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau this Friday called for an emergency meeting with the country’s incident response group, which included several ministers. He spoke with local, provincial, and indigenous leaders about the plans to tackle the situation. As the armed forces joined the efforts, Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan announced that at least 350 military personnel have scrambled to launch evacuations, where necessary, and to provide logistical support to the impacted regions from the operations center that they will establish in Edmonton. This came after shockingly, the village of Lytton, 250 kilometers (155 miles) of Vancouver was torched 90 percent by the deadly heatwaves, Brad Vis, an MP for the area told Canadian broadcasters. 

Advertisement

Published July 4th, 2021 at 15:51 IST

Your Voice. Now Direct.

Send us your views, we’ll publish them. This section is moderated.

Advertisement
Advertisement

Trending Quicks

Lok Sabha Polls: Nakul Nath Declares Assets Worth Rs 700 Crore
2 minutes ago
BCAS started the continuous exercise of monitoring the time of arrival of baggage at belts of six major airports in January 2024.
3 minutes ago
Government Approves Major Bureaucratic Rejig with Key Appointments | LIVE
4 minutes ago
CM Punk and Vince McMahon
11 minutes ago
File Photo of PM Narendra Modi
16 minutes ago
Bribery
20 minutes ago
Kashmiri Lakes
23 minutes ago
Bollywood actor Govinda
27 minutes ago
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Whatsapp logo