MONTREAL: A wildfire in northeastern Canada that forced the evacuation of more than 9,000 people a week ago is now under control and allowing displaced people to begin returning home, authorities said Saturday.
The risk to Labrador City and Wabush is now “very low,” Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey told reporters.
“Here we breathe again,” he said.
“As a result, we are in a good position today to partially lift the evacuation order,” which he said is “the largest evacuation in the province’s history.”
At the moment, only workers deemed essential – hospital workers, supermarket workers and government workers – will be allowed to return as they prepare for the return of the remaining evacuees from Monday, he said.
The evacuation was difficult. Residents of this remote area had to travel 300 miles (500 kilometers) to reach safety on the only available road.
While the fire situation is improving in eastern Canada, more wildfires have been breaking out in the west of the country in recent days.
More than 320 fires are now burning in the Pacific Coast province of British Columbia, including three particularly large fires. Several thousand people remain on alert, ready to evacuate if necessary.
And in the province of Alberta, more than 5,000 people from isolated aboriginal communities were ordered to evacuate, with wildfires threatening the only road providing access to each community, officials said.
The federal Department of the Environment has issued several smoke-related air pollution advisories in the Rockies and north, where smoke is affecting Edmonton, the province’s second-largest city.
Authorities are blaming the outbreak on a deadly combination of thunderstorms and extreme temperatures of 86 to 104 Fahrenheit (30 to 40 Celsius), conditions expected to persist for several more days. Experts say climate change is resulting in drier and warmer conditions in many regions, sharply increasing the risk of large fires.
