Federal Emergencies Minister Eleanor Olszewski said late Friday that the armed forces would use aircraft to get everyone out of Fort Hope,a spot with few roads and heavy reliance on air travel to begin with.It's not like they can just drive people out. Some of the worst fires in the country right now are burning close to that community. Thousands have already left other hit areas for cities farther south in Ontario, and Canada's federal natural resources ministry said Saturday that 69 new fires popped up overnight alone, pushing the national count to 955. That's a staggering number for a single country to be dealing with at once. Detroit had the worst air quality of any city in the world at one point this week, though officials expect things to ease up there by Saturday.
Big wildfires aren't new for Canada, home to some of the largest stretches of forest anywhere on the planet, and they show up most years now. Climate experts point to hotter weather drying out timber and pushing fire risk higher season after season.Earlier this week, fast moving flames destroyed homes in northern Ontario and forced evacuation orders in Armstrong,Lac La Croix First Nation, Whitesand First Nation, Gull Bay First Nation and Lac des Mille Lacs First Nation,and Manitoba's Premier Wab Kinew called the wildfire situation there the largest evacuation his province has seen in most people's living memory.
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