2023-06-05 00:19:30
International coordination and precipitation to restore hope in Canada. The arrival of rain in Eastern Canada, affected for nearly a week by historic fires, came to relieve firefighters in Nova Scotia on Saturday, when the situation in Quebec remains critical.
700 foreign firefighters – from South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and the United States – are expected in the coming days according to the Canadian press. This Sunday evening, Emmanuel Macron announced, on Twitter, that France would participate in this effort. “Canada is facing terrible fires. France is united. A hundred of our firefighters are preparing to fight the flames alongside their Quebec comrades. Experts are also mobilized. Canadian friends, reinforcements are coming,” he promises.
85% of the wildfire threatening Nova Scotia’s capital, Halifax, has been brought under control, moving it from “out of control” to “stable”, authorities said at a press briefing on Saturday morning . “It’s great,” said Dave Meldrum, Deputy Chief of Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency Services. “It’s not a big downpour that runs off and disappears. The water will be able to infiltrate more effectively into the ground,” he said, as the province expects more precipitation for the coming days.
“That said, the fire is not out and will not be declared out for some time,” said Dave Steeves of the provincial Department of Natural Resources. Friday evening, half of 16,000 people evacuated from the northeast suburbs of Halifax were allowed to return home.
80 fires still deemed out of control
“This week has been surreal, one of the most bizarre of my life,” Shawn Lavigne, who had to quickly evacuate his house on Sunday, told public media CBC. “Honestly, I’ve never been happier to see dirty dishes than last night. It’s great to be home, ”he added, smiling.
“I can tell you the rain is boosting the morale of the troops,” Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston said after meeting with several families of evacuees at reception centers in the southwestern part of the province. , where the last out-of-control fire is raging on a total of five assets. “This is the largest fire in Nova Scotia’s history, and it remains fearsome,” added the Premier.
Canadian armed forces as well as American firefighters are expected in the region on Saturday and Sunday, as well as firefighters initially planned for Halifax. In Quebec, the fire which forced more than 10,000 people to evacuate the region around Sept-Îles, in the north of the province near the St. Lawrence River, did not evolve overnight from Friday to Saturday but still remains “out of control,” authorities said.
“The winds will be variable today, so it could change at any time,” warned Isabelle Gariépy of the Society for the Protection of Forests against Fire (SOPFEU). More than 130 forest fires, including about 80 deemed out of control, remain active in Quebec and forced more than 2,000 additional people to evacuate a city but also an indigenous community in the province on Friday evening.
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