2023-06-09 05:43:40
12:01 AM
The Canadian province of Quebec is awaiting the arrival of reinforcements to fight the virulent fires that have plagued it for several days and whose smoke has already covered New York and other parts of the United States in an orange fog.
The devastating fires in this country, now concentrated in the French-speaking province, caused the evacuation of more than 20,000 people and –so far this year– have destroyed almost 3.8 million hectares.
With 150 active fires, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has described this fire season as the worst in its history and warned that resources “are stretched to the limit”.
Smoke from the fire reached the northeastern United States and spread as far west as Chicago and as far south as Atlanta, prompting the Environmental Protection Agency to issue advisories over an area with more than 100 million people.
The thick toxic coating shrouded the Statue of Liberty and the Big Apple’s skyscrapers in an orange-brown glow, delayed flights and forced the postponement of sporting events.
The masks, vestiges of the pandemic, appeared once more on the streets.
“It smells like someone is having a barbecue,” said Nicha Suaittiyanon, a 30-year-old tourist from Thailand, her eyes teary.
On the banks of the East River, retired attorney Jack Wright explained that the pollution made him “cough all day.”
The New York mayor, Eric Adams, recommended that the population avoid activity abroad for “absolute necessity.” “This is not the day to train for a marathon,” he stated.
IQAir.com, which monitors air quality around the world, said New York had the worst level of pollution of any city on the planet.
This event is “another worrying sign of the way the climate crisis affects our lives,” said White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre.
They seek support
After the damaging fires broke out in the provinces of Alberta and Nova Scotia, Quebec is now the epicenter of the fires in Canada.
There are currently 150 assets, a hundred of them out of control. And no major rain is expected before Monday night.
“With the troops we have, we can cover regarding 40 fires at the same time, but there are 150 active ones,” Quebec Prime Minister François Legault said.
“We have to attend to the urgent,” he added.
Quebec mobilized hundreds of people to fight the fire and hopes to reach 1,200 with international help.
The European Union proposed sending more than 280 firefighters from France, Spain and Portugal, as announced by the president of its executive arm, Ursula von der Leyen.
The White House said President Joe Biden had also offered Trudeau “additional support in responding to the devastating and historic wildfires.”
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