Nearly 950 active fires in Canada

(New York) There were 950 active fires in Canada as of Saturday morning, many of which are beyond control, according to new figures from the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center (CIFFC).

Nearly 200 forest fires are raging in Ontario. Premier Doug Ford indicated that more than 150 fire crews and more than 80 air tankers and helicopters were battling these fires, and that the province would not skimp on resources to ensure the safety of the population.

In British Columbia, about 100 new fires broke out across the province in the past 24 hours, most attributed to the more than 4,000 lightning strikes reported Friday.

Toronto was at the top of the most polluted cities in the world in the morning, according to the specialist site IQAir, ahead of New York and Washington.

Thick smoke descending from Canada and northern Minnesota has triggered poor air quality alerts across the United States.

Donald Trump threatened on Friday to impose new customs taxes on Canada, accusing it of being responsible for pollution caused by forest fires.

Pollution worries for the final match between Spain and Argentina, the two finalists of the Soccer World Cup, in an open-air stadium in New Jersey.

In Ontario, the fires have so far caused no casualties, but several isolated villages have been evacuated.

If the season has been much less dramatic so far than in 2023, a record year, the virulence of the fires has worsened considerably over the past week.

Impact on the lungs

Peter Mullinax, meteorologist for the NWS, told AFP that the winds could maintain hazy skies over the northeastern United States, but that forecasts anticipate an improvement.

The question for Sunday, according to Maryland air quality forecaster Joel Dreessen, is what will happen after thunderstorms expected over the weekend.

“Some models are starting to indicate that smoke levels are going to start to drop,” he says.

In the states closest to the fires, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin, certain areas have recorded air quality levels described as “dangerous” for several days, pushing residents to wear masks when going out.

In New York, free distributions took place at train stations and libraries.

Chris Carlsten, a professor at the University of British Columbia in Canada, says a growing body of research shows that fine particles from wildfires have a greater impact on the lungs, while vehicle-related pollution affects the heart more.

He also notes that paints, plastic and metal can mix with these plumes which gain toxicity as they move due to “photochemical aging”.

With The Canadian Press