Canada fires out of control: France to send 100 firefighters, Macron announces

International coordination and fallout to restore hope in Canada. Rain in eastern Canada, where historic fires have plagued nearly a week, came to the aid of firefighters in Nova Scotia on Saturday as the situation in Quebec remains critical.

According to the Canadian press, 700 foreign firefighters from South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and the United States are expected to arrive in the coming days. This Sunday evening, Emmanuel Macron announced on Twitter that France will take part in this effort. “Canada is facing terrible wildfires. France is one. A hundred of our firefighters are preparing to fight the fire along with their comrades from Quebec. Specialists are also involved. Canadian friends, reinforcements are coming,” he promises.

With 85% of the wildfires threatening Nova Scotia’s capital, Halifax, under control, the situation has gone from “out of control” to “stable,” authorities said at a press briefing Saturday morning. “It’s great,” said Dave Meldrum, deputy chief of the Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency Department. “It’s not a big downpour that comes and goes. Water will be able to infiltrate the ground more efficiently,” he said, as more rainfall is expected in the province in the coming days.

“However, the fire has not been extinguished and will not be declared extinct for some time,” said Dave Steves of the provincial department of natural resources. Thus, on Friday evening, half of the 16,000 people evacuated from the suburbs northeast of Halifax were allowed to return home.

80 fires still considered unmanageable

“This week has been surreal, one of the strangest of my life,” Sean Lavin, who had to quickly evacuate his home on Sunday, told CBC media. “Honestly, I have never been as happy to see dirty dishes as I was last night. It’s great to be home,” he added, smiling.

“I can tell you that the rain lifts the morale of the troops,” Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston said after meeting with several families of evacuees at reception centers in the southwestern part of the province, where the latest out-of-control fire broke out. raging a total of five assets. “This is the largest fire in the history of Nova Scotia, and it is still terrible,” the premier added.

Canadian Forces as well as US firefighters are expected in the region on Saturday and Sunday, as well as firefighters originally scheduled for Halifax. In Quebec, a fire that forced more than 10,000 people to evacuate from the area around Sept-Îles in the north of the province along the Saint Lawrence River did not spread overnight from Friday to Saturday, but remains “out of control” to this day. authorities said.

“The wind will be variable today, so it could change at any time,” warned Isabelle Garriepy of the Society for the Protection of Forests from Fires (SOPFEU). More than 130 wildfires, including about 80 declared out of control, continue to rage in Quebec and forced more than 2,000 more people to evacuate the city, as well as the province’s indigenous people, on Friday evening.