9,000 evacuated in northeast Canada due to wildfires

Around 9,000 people have been evacuated in northeastern Canada because of raging wildfires, officials said yesterday.
Residents of the towns of Labrador City and Wabush in Newfoundland and Labrador province were ordered to leave their homes, said provincial fire duty officer Jeff Motty.
“We are seeing extreme fire behaviour out there. The fire is moving about 50m per minute,” Motty said.
Images shared on social media showed lines of cars waiting to fill up at gas stations as the sky was obscured by enormous clouds of smoke.
“It was quite a shock to see that much smoke,” Labrador City resident Stacy Hunt told public broadcaster CBC. “And it’s been in pretty much the same place for hours now.”
In this remote region residents must evacuate more than 500km (310 miles) east via the only road available.
Motty said that the intensity of the fire made it impossible to use water bombers.
Yesterday morning Labrador City’s mayor Belinda Adams again urged residents to evacuate.
“The fire is still active,” she said in a video posted on social media.
There were 11 active wildfires in Labrador on Friday evening and weather conditions increased the potential for fire activity over the weekend, the province stated.
Labrador City, located near the Quebec border, had a population of about 9,000 in the 2021 census.
Federal authorities said on Friday that the weather had been favourable for limiting fires since the start of summer, but that the country was entering the peak wildfire season.
Last year, the country recorded the worst fire season in its history.
Drier and hotter conditions in many parts of the country caused by climate change have increased the risk of major fires in recent years, according to experts.
Canada is currently battling 575 active fires with more than 400 considered out of control.
Many fires have broken out in recent days, particularly in the west of the country that has experienced a heatwave.