More than 13,000 people have been evacuated as wildfires rage in Alberta in western Canada. Among the hardest hit areas were the Little Red River Cree Nation in the north of the county, where 20 homes and a police station were set on fire.
The town of Drayton Valley, with a population of 7,000, 140 km west of the regional capital Edmonton, was among those evacuated Thursday night.
Until last week, springtime temperatures were cool in western Canada, but the sudden warm weather has caused wildfires and flooding. In some places, the temperature was above average for this time of year by about 10-15 degrees.
This is much more wildfire activity than we normally see at this time of year, says Kristi Tucker, Alberta Wildfire Communications Officer. Watchman.
And she adds:
– It will be warmer, there will be more winds, and we expect intense wildfire activity. Firefighters are ready for what could be a very tough day.
There have been 348 wildfires recorded in Alberta this year. The fire service is afraid of wildfires escalating.
In the province of British Columbia, in Canada’s far west, flooding has swept away homes and closed highways in many towns. The fire service expects flooding to worsen over the weekend with heavy rain.
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