By Enyichukwu Enemanna
At least 375,000 hectares of land in Alberta, a province in Canada have burned, while 29,000 people have been evacuated from their homes as wildfires raged despite rain and falling temperatures, authorities announced on Sunday.
Alberta was forced to declare a state of emergency late on Saturday when 31 of the 108 active forest fires went out of control, a development that led to the release of federal funds to tackle the flames.
Recent rain had helped with firefighting, head of the Alberta Wildfire Protection Authority, Christie Tucker said.
“This has given firefighters the opportunity to work on some of the fire areas that they couldn’t get to because of the extreme nature of the fires.”
Cooler temperatures and higher humidity were expected over the next few days, she said.
Authorities had requested help from the neighbouring US state of Montana, Tucker said.
The extent of the damage could not yet be estimated, authorities added.
Colin Blair, director of the Alberta Emergency Management Agency, told Canada’s CBC the priority was to protect lives and manage emergencies.
According to authorities, there have already been more than 360 fires since January.
Experts warn that climate change will increase the frequency and intensity of forest fires.
