Hundreds of American firefighters have recently arrived in Canada to help battle wildfires 鈥� and more are on the way.
In a tweet Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he spoke with U.S. President Joe Biden about this 鈥渃ritical support鈥� and thanked him for all the help Americans are providing Canada as the country continues to fight 鈥渢hese devastating wildfires.鈥�
The Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre said there were as of Wednesday evening, and more than half of them were burning out of control. In Quebec alone, there were 140 active forest fires.
鈥淲e鈥檙e seeing more and more of these fires because of climate change. These fires are affecting everyday routines, lives and livelihoods, and our air quality,鈥� Trudeau said.
鈥淲e鈥檒l keep working 鈥� here at home and with partners around the world 鈥� to tackle climate change and address its impacts.鈥�
At a press briefing Wednesday, the White House said more than 600 U.S. firefighters and personnel, as well equipment like water bombers, have been deployed so far to help Canada battle the fires.
There are now nearly 1,000 firefighters from the United States, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa鈥攚ith additional firefighters from France expected鈥�helping battle the wildfires.
The federal government has said this season is on track to be the worst fire season Canada has ever experienced and the risk of wildfires will remain well above average in most of the country throughout the summer.
More than 2,200 wildfires have been recorded across Canada this year and about 3.3 million hectares burned, according to Natural Resources Canada.
