World

Fires in Canada : Smoke reaches Europe

- 9:13 am
Giant fires in Canada (capture Euronews)

Giant fires in Canada (capture Euronews)

The gigantic fires that have been devouring Canada’s forests for months now are producing gigantic plumes of smoke that are degrading air quality. The cloud now covers part of France.

Hundreds of fires are burning Canada’s vast forests. Since the beginning of the year, 7.5 million hectares have gone up in smoke, creating a thick fog over major cities like Montreal and New York, where the air quickly became unbreathable for over 100 million Americans.

Fires out of control

There are 80 active fires in the Intensive Protection Zone (IPZ) and 35 in the Northern Zone (NZ),” says Sopfeu’s Facebook page. Of these, 29 are considered to be out of control, meaning they are growing. Active fires cover 1,224,568 hectares (ha) in the IPZ, while they account for 1,355,251 ha in the NZ. (…) The extent of the smoke, particularly in western Quebec, makes it difficult for air tankers and helicopters to intervene. This has been the case over the past few days. The passage of rain should allow some of the smoke to dissipate.

Gigantic resources deployed

To fight the flames, 1,457 Canadian firefighters and military personnel are on the front line with 21 “water tankers”, 84 helicopters and 16 observation planes. The Canadians have received reinforcements from France (100 firefighters mobilized and a new reinforcement of 119 firefighters starting this Wednesday, June 28), the United States, Spain, Portugal and South Korea.
And yet the fire continues to grow, and with it the plume of smoke that has crossed the Atlantic. Although the fine particles contained in the smoke are reaching France, as noted by Météo France, atmospheric pollution – monitored by the European Copernicus Atmosphere Service (CAMS) and ATMO France, in particular – should not inconvenience the population.
should not inconvenience the populations of Europe.
The rains expected over the coming days should help slow the fires.

 

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