Alberta's fight against wildfires could drag on all summer, official says
CBC
Alberta's unprecedented wildfire crisis threatens to drag on through the summer months.
As of Wednesday morning, 96 wildfires were burning across the province. Of the 91 fires burning inside Alberta's forest protection areas, 27 are classified as out of control.
Firefighters are bracing for a long, gruelling season.
"Given the amount of fire we're currently seeing on the landscape, it will be months before all these fires are brought under control, unless we get a significant shift in the weather that brings a lot of moisture," Alberta Wildfire information officer Josee St-Onge said Wednesday.
"Given the sheer number of fires we're seeing, it's going to be a long battle."
A volatile start to this year's wildfire season has seen more than 480 fires to date. More than 694,000 hectares of land have been destroyed. The fires have consumed homes and businesses and forced entire communities to be evacuated.
As of Tuesday afternoon, more than 19,500 people remained out of their homes.
Some 2,500 firefighters are currently fighting the fires — 1,600 from Alberta Wildfire, and 900 others from the Canadian Armed Forces, other provinces and the United States.
Another 61 firefighters arrived Tuesday from Ontario, with 21 expected to arrive from New Brunswick on Wednesday.
St-Onge said as fires pick up in other regions, some outside teams brought into Alberta will likely need to return home.
As the crisis drags on, more help will be needed. The emergency will exhaust current resources and the province will have to bring in more crews from other jurisdictions.
"It's no doubt that it's going to be a challenging summer and that we will have to look at other sources for help," St-Onge said.
"We're hoping for some help from from the weather certainly, but it it could be a situation that we see for the rest of the summer."
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