MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th July, 2023) Some 12.1 million hectares (30 million acres) of wildland have burned in Canada as the record-breaking fire season persists, the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre has estimated.
As of Tuesday, Canada remained at the highest level of national fire preparedness, with 1,069 active blazes. The center said 4,742 fires had erupted across the country since the start of the year.
July continued to be an extremely busy month in terms of mobilization, with thousands of firefighters battling the flames nationwide. Fast-growing fires fanned by strong winds have been reported in British Columbia, Alberta and the vastly forested Indigenous-majority Northwest Territories.
Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair said in June that Canada was experiencing its worst wildfire season of the century. Thousands of people have been forced out of their homes, while drifting smoke has polluted the air in US cities to the south.
