Tens of thousands of people in the Canadian province of Alberta have been forced to evacuate their homes as "unprecedented" wildfires rage across the province.
Smoke rises from the EWF-035 wildfire in Alberta, Canada.
As of 9:30 a.m. local time on May 6, 24,511 Alberta residents had evacuated as 103 wildfires raged across the province, burning 121,909 hectares.
“Much of Alberta is experiencing a hot, dry spring and it only takes a few sparks to start some truly terrifying wildfires,” said Premier Danielle Smith. “These conditions have led to the unprecedented situation our province is facing right now.”
Forty-five new fires have started since 11 a.m. on May 5 and 5,200 Albertans have been warned to evacuate.
Among the communities evacuated was Brazeau County, which includes all 7,000 people living in the Drayton Valley, 140 km (87 miles) west of the provincial capital Edmonton. The entire community of Fox Lake was also among those evacuated, where the 1,458-hectare (3,609-acre) Fox Lake wildfire has burned 20 homes and the police station.
The wildfires broke out amid unusually high temperatures, which were 10 degrees Celsius above average in early May. Some fires were out of control.
The $1.5 billion ($1.12 billion) is seen as a contingency because Canada may need to spend a significant amount on emergency management and wildfire recovery, Smith said.
The Alberta government will make a decision later on May 6 on whether to declare a state of emergency in the province.
Whitecap Resources, an oil producer operating in northwest and central Alberta, said it is busy ensuring employees are safe during evacuations and assets are not affected.
“(We) are watching closely and praying for rain,” Whitecap CEO Grant Fagerheim said on May 6.
Pembina Pipeline Corp, which operates oil gathering pipelines in the area, confirmed on May 5 that it had activated its incident management and emergency response procedures and was “assessing any current or anticipated operational impacts.”
According to Ms. Smith, since the beginning of the year, 43,000 hectares have been burned by forest fires.
Voters in Alberta will go to the polls on May 29 to elect a new government . Smith said people expect the election to go ahead as planned.
In recent years, Western Canada has been hit by more frequent extreme weather events due to the effects of global warming.
According to vtv.vn
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