▲ Aerial view of wildfires at the Semo Lake complex in northern Alberta, Canada.Photo via Xinhua

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The newspaper La Jornada
Sunday, July 14, 2024, p. 19

Montreal. More than 9,000 people have been evacuated since yesterday evening in northeastern Canada due to a forest fire that is raging out of control and is being fanned by strong winds, local authorities reported.

Residents in Labrador City and Wabush in Newfoundland and Labrador have been ordered to leave their homes, provincial fire spokesman Jeff Motty confirmed.

We are seeing extreme fire behavior, it is advancing at 50 meters per minute.the officer explained, adding that the intensity of the flames made it impossible to use water bombers.

Images posted on social media showed lines of cars waiting to fill up with petrol at stations, and the sky obscured by huge clouds of smoke.

“Was a shock “I just saw so much smoke. And it’s been like that, in the same place, for hours,” Labrador City resident Stacy Hunt told CBC.

Drier and hotter conditions in several regions of the country, caused by climate change, have increased the risk of larger fires, experts said.

There are currently 575 active fires, of which more than 400 are considered out of control.