Alberta’s unprecedented wildfire crisis threatens to drag on through the summer months.
As of Wednesday afternoon, 91 wildfires are burning inside Alberta’s forest protection areas, and 27 are classified as out of control, Alberta Wildfire information unit manager Christie Tucker said.
Firefighters are bracing for a long, gruelling season, and Tucker said Alberta has enlisted the help of nearly 1,000 out-of-province firefighters from across Canada and the U.S. so far.
“I can tell you in my experience, this is the most that I’ve seen coming in,” she said.
Tucker said further requests for help will be sent out to ensure firefighters remain ready to jump in when needed and to rotate teams.
But Alberta Wildfire information officer Josee St-Onge said Wednesday that the number of fires means it will be “a long battle” to stop them.
“Given the amount of fire we’re currently seeing on the landscape, it will be months before all these fires are brought under control, unless we get a significant shift in the weather that brings a lot of moisture,” she said.
St-Onge said as fires pick up in other regions, some outside teams brought into Alberta will likely need to return home.
As the crisis drags on, more help will be needed. The emergency will exhaust current resources and the province will have to bring in more crews from other jurisdictions.
“It’s no doubt that it’s going to be a challenging summer and that we will have to look at other sources for help,” St-Onge said.
“We’re hoping for some help from from the weather certainly, but it it could be a situation that we see for the rest of the summer.”
Tucker said at a Wednesday news conference recent smoky conditions have made it difficult to fly over wildfires to determine their size. While there has been a short reprieve with less wind and slightly cooler temperatures, hot and dry conditions are expected to return this long weekend.
Some 2,500 firefighters are currently fighting the fires �— 1,600 from Alberta Wildfire, and 900 others from the Canadian Armed Forces, other provinces and the United States.
Another 61 firefighters arrived Tuesday from Ontario, with 21 expected to arrive from New Brunswick on Wednesday.
Lifting evacuation orders
As of Wednesday afternoon, more than 11,990 people remained evacuated from their homes, but some displaced residents have been allowed to return.
Officials with Drayton Valley and Brazeau County, southwest of Edmonton, welcomed residents back during a news conference Wednesday.
Fire Services Chief Tom Thomson thanked the community for a successful re-entry.
“I know it has been tough times for the last little while and we are so happy to see faces back and people able to be back into their homes.”
He said five homes across the county were destroyed by the flames.
Multiple firefighters have also been injured while trying to save the community, according to incident commander Byron Fraser. The firefighters are expected to make a full recovery.
One firefighter was seriously injured by a falling tree in East Prairie Métis Settlement, which Fraser pointed to as one of many risks in the wildfire response.
Why wildfire seasons are getting stronger and longer
John Vaillant has spent years investigating wildfires and the reasons today’s fires are more destructive. He uses photos and videos to show CBC’s chief correspondent Adrienne Arsenault what’s been happening.
“That goes to show professionals that are getting injured out there. Stay out of the forest, stay safe,” he said.
When asked about the gap between being able to re-open communities and lift evacuation orders, Fraser said safety was paramount.
“We still have crews working tirelessly and in dangerous spots and until we felt completely comfortable that the fire was not going to leave its containment area, it was still too high of a risk.”
A key factor in making the decision to lift evacuation orders was changing weather and shifting winds.
Thomson said while the threat from a fire in the area has subsided, dangers in the community remain.
He said there are concerns about falling trees and ash pits in areas ravaged by fire as crews continue to battle active flames.
Challenging conditions
Hot, dry and windy conditions are expected to continue throughout Western Canada, potentially creating more intense and unpredictable fires through the Victoria Day weekend.
Firefighters in Alberta have battled heat and tinder-dry conditions. Shifting winds this week have accelerated fire growth, driving flames closer to some communities.
Peat found in muskeg is also challenging firefighters, acting as fuel that makes some fires difficult to extinguish and could keep some of them smouldering through winter.
Marieke deRoos, a spokesperson for the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, which helps provinces and territories share firefighting resources, said the demand on fire crews is escalating across the country.
With resources stretched increasingly thin, other countries not in the midst of their fire seasons are being asked to dispatch aid to Alberta, she said.
“We have turned to our partners down south in the U.S. who have already deployed resources to Alberta, and we’re currently investigating other options from our other partners of New Zealand, Australia, Mexico and South Africa.”
The fire danger is extreme in northern Alberta with temperatures expected to increase again toward the end of this week.
Smoke has spread south across the province in recent days, clouding visibility, aggravating health concerns and acting as a constant reminder of the crisis unfolding in communities. Special air quality statements are in place for much of Alberta.
A detailed assessment of the losses has not been completed but reports of burned homes, acreages and business continue to pour in from across central and northern Alberta.
As the threat subsides in some communities, evacuees are slowly returning home. On Tuesday, evacuation orders were partially lifted allowing for a staggered re-entry in Brazeau County, including Drayton Valley, which is home to around 7,000 residents.
Maj. Sean Fletcher, the officer commanding the military domestic response company in Drayton Valley, said about 125 reservists are on the ground in the area.
He said troops are providing relief to provincial crews, acting as backfill when firefighters take leave of the front lines or are dispatched to more urgent fires burning elsewhere.
Military reservists are ‘boots on the ground’ in Alberta wildfire fight, commander says
Maj. Sean Fletcher, the officer commanding the CAF domestic response company in Drayton Valley, Alta., says about 125 reservists are on the ground in the area, helping to support fire crews.
Soldiers are working long hours, he said. Depending on how long the deployment lasts, fresh troops will be rotated in to avoid burnout, he said.
“We know this is a marathon, not a race,” Fletcher said.
In northwest Alberta, the communities of Rainbow Lake and Chateh remain under threat and hundreds of residents of the neighbouring communities have fled.
David Morin, a firefighter who has been working in the area, echoed the call for more aid.
In terms of resources, Alberta will need “the whole kitchen sink” to tame the disaster, he said.
“We’re going to need more people, we’re going to need more airplanes. We’re going to need more everything, just more and more and more, until we can get the situation under control.
Morin expects it will be a long, difficult wildfire season.
“I’ve never seen it this dry this early and the winds have been incredible,” he said.
“Because it’s so dry and it’s so early, this is going to be a long summer for us.”
Wildfire smoke impacting life across Western Canada
Air quality is deteriorating in parts of Canada as wildfires continue to rage. Western provinces are facing the worst health risks, but the smoke is travelling and now covers much of the country.
LATROBE, Pa. (AP) — Donald Trump’s campaign suggested he would begin previewing his closing argument Saturday night with Election Day barely two weeks away. But the former president kicked off his rally with a detailed story about Arnold Palmer, at one point even praising the late, legendary golfer’s genitalia.
Trump was campaigning in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, where Palmer was born in 1929 and learned to golf from his father, who suffered from polio and was head pro and greenskeeper at the local country club.
Politicians saluting Palmer in his hometown is nothing new. But Trump spent 12 full minutes doing so at the top of his speech and even suggested how much more fun the night would be if Palmer, who died in 2016, could join him on stage.
“Arnold Palmer was all man, and I say that in all due respect to women,” Trump said. “This is a guy that was all man.”
Then he went even further.
“When he took the showers with other pros, they came out of there. They said, ‘Oh my God. That’s unbelievable,’” Trump said with a laugh. “I had to say. We have women that are highly sophisticated here, but they used to look at Arnold as a man.”
Trump senior adviser Jason Miller told reporters before the speech that Trump planned to preview his closing argument against Vice President Kamala Harris and “start to get into that framing.” Candidates have traditionally used their final days on the campaign trail to sum up for the electorate why they deserve to win the White House.
Trump eventually hit many of his favorite campaign themes but didn’t offer much in the way of new framing of the race or why he should win it. He instead boasted of creating strong tax policies and a strong military during his first term in office.
He slammed Harris as “crazy” and added a profanity.
“You have to tell Kamala Harris that you’ve had enough, that you just can’t take it anymore, we can’t stand you anymore, you’re a s— vice president,” Trump said to roars of the crowd. “The worst. You’re the worst vice president. Kamala, you’re fired. Get the hell out of here.”
He also criticized Harris for suggesting during her unsuccessful run for president in 2020 that she’d support a ban on hydraulic fracking, which is important to Pennsylvania’s economy and a position Harris’ campaign says she no longer supports.
Trump invited on stage members of a local steelworkers union that endorsed him. He donned a construction hat with his name on it.
“He said, ‘It’s incredible what’s happened,’” Trump said of the Netanyahu call before moving to a criticism of President Joe Biden, saying that the Israeli prime minister “wouldn’t listen to Biden.”
Trump praised the raucous crowd, which was outside and at an airport, but also made a point of suggesting that there was more conspicuous security around him following two assassination attempts, saying, “They give you a little extra security nowadays, you notice?”
“I got more machine guns than I’ve ever seen — look at these guys,” he said referring to security. He was interrupted by cries from the crowd of “USA! USA!” before continuing, “We’ve got more guys, and every one of them is like central casting too, holy s—.”
Then he tied it back to Latrobe’s native son, adding, “They look like Arnold. Can’t look better than Arnold.”
ATLANTA (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris said Saturday that Republican former President Donald Trump was “cruel” for how he talked about the grieving family of a Georgia mother who died after waiting 20 hours for a hospital to treat her complications from an abortion pill, as she put combating restrictions on reproductive care at the center of her pitch to voters.
At a rally in Atlanta, Harris blamed Amber Thurman’s death on Georgia’s abortion restrictions that took effect after the Supreme Court in 2022, with three Trump-appointed justices, overturned Roe v. Wade. It comes as Harris is looking to the issue to propel support to Democrats, who have pledged to restore a national right to abortion if they win the White House and enough seats in Congress.
“Donald Trump still refuses to take accountability, to take any accountability, for the pain and the suffering he has caused,” Harris said.
Thurman’ story features at the center of one of Harris’ closing campaign ads, and her family attended her Atlanta rally, with her mother holding a photo of her daughter from the audience. Harris showed a clip of Trump saying during a recent Fox News Channel town hall, when he was asked about the Thurman family joining a separate media call, “We’ll get better ratings, I promise.”
“A grieving family, a grieving family, sharing the memory of their daughter with our nation. Where is the compassion?” she asked. “What we see continually from Donald Trump is exactly what that clip shows,” Harris added. “He belittles their sorrow, making it about himself and his television ratings. It is cruel.”
Before Harris became the Democratic nominee, Ian Summer, 19, planned on voting against Trump — but he wasn’t enthusiastic about President Joe Biden. Since Harris stepped into the race “she’s brought great energy,” Summer said. Summer is worried about restrictions on abortion access under Trump. “The fact that I could have a wife in the future that may not be able to receive the care that she needs, that’s a very scary thing,” he said.
Early voting is also underway in Georgia. More than 1.2 million ballots have been cast, either in person or by mail. Democrats hope an expansive organizing effort will boost Harris against Trump in the campaign’s final weeks. Harris referenced that former President Jimmy Carter recently voted by mail days after his 100th birthday.
“If Jimmy Carter can vote early, you can too,” Harris said.
Roderick Williams, 56, brought his three daughters to Harris’ Atlanta rally. His youngest daughter was born around the time former President Barack Obama entered office, and he hopes they can witness history again by seeing Harris become the first Black woman to be president.
“It’s important for them to see that anything’s possible,” Williams said.
Harris was joined at the rally by hometown music icon Usher, drawing again on star power as she looks to excite voters to the polls. Earlier Saturday she appeared with Lizzo on Saturday in the singer’s hometown of Detroit, marking the beginning of in-person voting and lavishing the city with praise after Trump recently disparaged it.
“All the best things were made in Detroit. Coney Dogs, Faygo and Lizzo,” the singer joked to a rally crowd, pointing to herself after listing off the hot dogs and soda that the city is famous for.
She said it was time to “put some respect on Detroit’s name” noting that the city had revolutionized the auto and music industries and adding that she’d already cast her ballot for Harris since voting early was “a power move.”
Heaps of praise for the Motor City came after Trump, the former president, insulted it during a recent campaign stop. And Harris continued the theme, saying of her campaign, “Like the people of Detroit, we have grit, we have excellence, we have history.”
Arms wide open as she took the stage, Harris let the crowd see she was wearing under her blazer a “Detroit vs. Everybody” T-shirt that the owner of the business that produces them gave her during a previous stop in the city earlier in the week. She also moved around the stage during her speech with a hand-held mic, not using a teleprompter.
More than 1 million Michigan residents have already voted by mail in the Nov. 5 election, and Harris predicted that Detroit turnout for early voting would be strong.
“Who is the capital of producing records?” Harris asked when imploring the crowd to set new highs for early voting tallies. “We are going to break some records here in Detroit today.”
She slammed Trump as unstable: “Somebody just needs to watch his rallies, if you’re not really sure how to vote.”
“We’re not going to get these 17 days back. On Election Day, we don’t want to have any regrets,” the vice president said.
Lizzo also told the crowd, “Mrs. Commander-in-Chief has a nice ring to it.”
“This is the swing state of all swing states, so every last vote here counts,” the singer said. Then, referencing her song of the same title, Lizzo added, “If you ask me if America is ready for its first woman president, I only have one thing to say: “It’s about damn time!”
Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley said in a statement that Harris needed Lizzo “to hide the fact that Michiganders were feeling good under President Trump – real wages were higher, prices were lower, and everyone was better off.”
Talona Johnson, a product manager from Rochester, Michigan, attended Harris’ rally and said that Harris “and her team are doing the things that are required to make sure that people are informed.”
“I believe she’s telling the truth. She’s trying to help the people,” said Johnson, who said she planned to vote for Harris and saw women’s rights as her top concern.
“I don’t necessarily agree with everything that she’s put out, but she’s better than the alternative,”
In comments to reporters before the rally, Harris said she was in Detroit “to thank all the folks for the work they are doing to help organize and register people to vote, and get them out to vote today. She also called Detroit “a great American city” with “a lot of hard-working folks that have grit and ambition and deserve to be respected.”
The vice president was asked about whether the Biden administration’s full-throated support for Israel in its war with Hamas in Gaza might hurt her support in Michigan. Dearborn, near Detroit, is the largest city with an Arab majority in the nation.
“It has never been easy,” Harris said of Middle East policy. “But that doesn’t mean we give up.”
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Associated Press writers Matt Brown in Detroit, Charlotte Kramon in Atlanta and Will Weissert and Fatima Hussein in Washington contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. is investigating an unauthorized release of classified documents that assess Israel’s plans to attack Iran, three U.S. officials told The Associated Press. A fourth U.S. official said the documents appear to be legitimate.
The documents are attributed to the U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency and note that Israel continues to move military assets in place to conduct a military strike in response to Iran’s blistering ballistic missile attack on Oct. 1. They were sharable within the “Five Eyes,” which are the U.S., Great Britain, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.
The documents, which are marked top secret, were posted online to Telegram and first reported by CNN and Axios. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
The investigation is also examining how the documents were obtained — including whether it was an intentional leak by a member of the U.S. intelligence community or obtained by another method, like a hack — and whether any other intelligence information was compromised, the official said. As part of that investigation, officials are working to determine who had access to the documents before they were posted, the official said.
The documents emerged as the U.S. has urged Israel to take advantage of its elimination of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and press for a ceasefire in Gaza, and has likewise urgently cautioned Israel not to further expand military operations in the north in Lebanon and risk a wider regional war. However, Israel’s leadership has repeatedly stressed it will not let Iran’s missile attack go unanswered.
In a statement, the Pentagon said it was aware of the reports of the documents but did not have further comment.
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