More than 800 Canadian wildfires burning as air quality alerts extend to US

In the past, fires burned more frequently in Western Canada, but in recent years the trend has moved eastward, leading to smoke being more noticeable in densely populated cities such as Toronto and New York, said Prof Chasmer, who is now seeing large fires burning in Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces.

This has strained firefighting efforts in Canada, he added, with the primary focus being to ensure flames do not spread to nearby towns. Prof Chasmer said it was “very difficult” to completely extinguish the fires due to their scope and intensity.

Responding to criticism from US lawmakers, Carney said in a statement on Thursday that both countries have a responsibility to combat climate change.

He added that his government was in “close communication” with provinces and local communities and stood ready to help.

Meanwhile, Ontario Premier Doug Ford rejected criticism of his government’s handling of the fires and stated that more than 150 fire crews were on the field to fight the fire.

“We will spend whatever it takes,” Ford said.

Along with hazardous smoke, wildfires in northern Ontario have forced the evacuation of hundreds of people from local First Nations communities; Videos show some of them escaping from the remote area by boat.

Linda Debassige, President of the Anishinabek Nation Grand Council, said in a statement that houses and buildings in the region were also severely damaged by the flames.

Dramatic video shot on Wednesday showed a freight train surrounded by wildfires in Ontario, Canada, where workers called for emergency rescue.

Canadian National Railways said in a statement that all of the workers trapped outside Armstrong were rescued safely and operations in the area were temporarily suspended.