WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Wildfires forced another 1,000 people to flee their homes in Manitoba, one of two Canadian provinces under a state of emergency that has led to thousands of evacuations.
Smoke from Canadian wildfires has worsened air quality in eastern Canada and the U.S. The fires have forced thousands of Canadians to flee their homes and sent smoke as far as Europe.
The town of Snow Lake, Manitoba issued a mandatory evacuation order for its residents Friday as a large wildfire threatens the area.
That fire, which has now grown to more than 3,000 square kilometers (1,058 square miles), has already forced out all 5,000 residents of the city of nearby Flin Flon and a thousand more in surrounding cottages and homes.
When the Snow Lake evacuees are added in, Manitoba has about 19,000 displaced from their homes. There are 27 total fires in the province of Manitoba, eight of them out of control.
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said evacuees have found a place to stay with friends or family, in hotels or in congregate shelters.
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, premier of the neighboring province, said two people were charged with setting wildfires. He said one of them was charged in relation to a fire around La Ronge, Saskatchewan, which has forced 7,000 people to flee their homes.
There are 24 active wildfires burning in the province of Saskatchewan, forcing between 10,000 and 15,000 people from their homes.
“Many if not virtually all of the fires that we’re dealing with in Saskatchewan, although not intentionally, are human caused. Some of those have been intentionally human caused,” Moe said.
The province is also under a state of emergency, making it easier for different levels of government to coordinate a response.
Moe said they are in daily contact with the federal government but have not yet asked for the military to help airlift out evacuees as they have so far been able to get them out by road.
He said the Red Cross is also working to set up congregate shelters for evacuees in Regina, Saskatoon and Prince Albert.
Canada’s wildfire season runs from May through September. Its worst-ever wildfire season was in 2023. It choked much of North America with dangerous smoke for months.
