Number and severity of wildfires grows, but Blair says federal aid isn't stretched thin
CBC
Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair said Friday that wildfires raging across the country are growing in number and severity, even as he assured provinces and territories that Ottawa isn't yet running short of firefighting resources.
Speaking to reporters outside the House of Commons Friday, Blair said there are now 214 wildfires burning in Canada, an increase over the 211 reported Thursday, and 93 of them are considered out of control — up from the 82 reported on Thursday. Approximately 29,000 people have been evacuated as of Thursday, said Blair.
Blair said it's been a "very challenging" start to the wildfire season but added that forecasts of cooler weather in Western Canada and rain in Nova Scotia may bring some relief.
"The situation remains severe across the country. We are hopeful that improving weather conditions and that rain will assist in the firefighting efforts, but there's still a great deal of work that needs to be done," he said.
"I want to assure Canadians that the federal government will continue to do whatever is necessary, working in partnership with the provinces, territories and First Nations, to ensure that Canadians will be kept safe."
WATCH | Ottawa will 'be there' to support N.S. through fires, Blair says
Blair said the start of the wildfire season this year has been "unprecedented" in its devastation, Roughly 2.7 million hectares of forest have been consumed in B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and the Northwest Territories.
The federal government approved the deployment of Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) personnel to Nova Scotia earlier this week in response to a request from the province.
Blair said he did not know how many CAF members are involved in firefighting operations right now, but added hundreds of firefighters are set to arrive from the United States, Australia and New Zealand over the coming days. One hundred and one American firefighters are expected to arrive in Canada later Friday.
The federal government has procured six water bomber planes from Montana to help fight the fires in Nova Scotia, Blair said, with four arriving Friday and two arriving Saturday.
In response to a reporter's question, Blair said the wildfires could end up testing the limits of Ottawa's resources.
"I don't want to refer to this as a competition, but we have many fires in many parts of the country drawing upon a limited number of resources, both within Canada and internationally," Blair said.
Blair said the federal government can only respond to specific requests for assistance from provinces and territories. Earlier this week, Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston called on the federal government to devote any available aid to his province in advance of a formal request. Houston also criticized the federal government's response to Hurricane Fiona, which hit Nova Scotia last year.
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