Western Canada wildfires emergency hits another province as thousands flee

A wildfire emergency in western Canada has spread to another province as thousands of people flee their homes.

"The conditions that our northern residents, communities and wildland firefighters are facing today are as severe or quite likely unlike anything we have faced in quite some time, if not ever," said Scott Moe, Premier of Saskatchewan.

He has declared a state of emergency as 14 wildfires rage uncontrollably in the province.

A day earlier, 17,000 people were told to flee wildfires in the neighbouring province of Manitoba, which declared its own state of emergency. More than 166 fires are actively burning across Canada, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre.

As of Thursday, 84 of those fires have been deemed "out of control", with major blazes also in the provinces of Alberta, Ontario and British Columbia.

The Canadian Armed Forces are being deployed to Manitoba to help move residents and firefight, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said on Wednesday.

Kinew said many evacuees will be housed at sports venues and community centres in Winnipeg and other cities.

"This is a moment of fear and uncertainty," he said.

Earlier this month, a married couple died in a wildfire in a rural community outside the Manitoba capital of Winnipeg, in an area that was under mandatory evacuation.

Sue and Richard Nowell became trapped in their property at Lac Du Bonnet by rapidly spreading wildfire, according to a fundraiser set up for their children.

Smoke from the wildfires is beginning to spill across the southern border into the US, triggering air quality alerts.

By Friday, it is expected to reach the cities of Minneapolis, Minnesota; Detroit, Michigan; Green Bay, Wisconsin; and Chicago, Illinois.

One resident of the Manitoba city of Flin Flon, which is under evacuation order, told CBC News she could "barely breathe" as she was packing up to leave.

"The town is absolutely smoked out here... We're just kind of in a panic here," said Elsaida Alerta.

A resident of Creighton, a town to the west of Flin Flon, told CBC the sight of the entire town driving in convoy away from their homes felt "surreal".

"Just seeing everybody exit the community all in a panic was really emotional," said Dawn Hlady.

Other communities not currently under evacuation orders have been told to prepare to leave in case the situation changes suddenly.

Canada had its worst wildfire season on record in 2023 when over 42m acres (17.3m hectares) burned, an area larger than all of England and more than double the previous record.

Scientists have linked worsening wildfire seasons to climate change, an issue that affects Canada significantly.

The country is warming at a rate twice as that of the global average due to its large land mass, and its Arctic region is warming three times as fast.