Now the residents of Hay River in Canada’s Northwest Territories are also affected: the town of nearly 4,000 people has been evacuated as a precaution due to a fast-spreading wildfire. According to firefighters on Saturday (local time), the flames were a good mile from the site. More than 200 rescue workers were deployed to prevent the flames from spreading to homes.
The government warned on Friday that those who remained in the village would do so at their own risk. It was hard to leave under such grim circumstances, Mayor Kandis Jameson wrote on Facebook. She and many others were airlifted to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
“Disasters are not due to bad luck”
Devastating wildfires have been raging across many parts of Canada for months, made worse by wind, drought and heat. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pointed to a link to climate change. “The disasters we face around the world are not just the result of bad luck. They are driven by climate change and the loss of nature,” the 51-year-old said in a speech in Vancouver.
In Canada, it’s clear: “Warmer, drier springs are giving way to hotter, drier summers that are turning forests into giant powder kegs. Entire ecosystems that normally fight climate change were destroyed in the fires, Trudeau said, setting off a vicious cycle.
Tens of thousands of people must flee the flames
“Canada is in the midst of the worst wildfire season in its history,” the prime minister said at the summit of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), an institution that funds environmental projects in developing countries. development.
Currently, tens of thousands of people in the Northwest Territories have had to flee the flames. The fire is also ravaging the province of British Columbia, which everyone can see thanks to the ubiquitous smoke in the air. In one way or another, all Canadians are affected by the fires, even when it comes to housing and caring for evacuees, the Prime Minister said.
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