By David Ljunggren and Maria Cheng
July 18 (Reuters) – Ontario Premier Doug Ford said U.S. criticism of Canadian efforts to stop the “terrible scenario” of spreading forest fires in his province and choking smoke across a broad swath of the United States was “absolutely unacceptable.”
“We’re trying to get through this,” Ford said on Saturday, adding that if the situation were reversed and the U.S. were facing wildfires, “we’re going to be down there to support our neighbors.”
President Donald Trump blamed what he called incompetent Canadian forest management for the smoke and said on Friday he would add the “incalculable cost” of dealing with the pollution to existing tariffs on Canadian goods. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Ford’s remarks.
Ford said at a press briefing that 655,000 hectares (1.6 million acres) of forest were burning across Ontario, Canada’s most populous province.
“My heart breaks for the people who have lost their homes or their camps and their businesses,” Ford said, adding he has told his ministers there is “no limit” on spending to protect people across the province.
TRUMP SHOULD DROP SOFTWOOD LUMBER TARIFFS: FORD
Ford suggested that if Trump wanted Canada to clear its forests, he should drop U.S. tariffs on softwood lumber. If Canada were able to ship its softwood lumber to the U.S. without tariffs, “that would resolve a lot of the issues we face right now,” Ford said.
Federal Emergencies Minister Eleanor Olszewski said late on Friday that the Canadian Armed Forces would use aircraft to evacuate residents of Fort Hope in sparsely populated northwestern Ontario, where some of the most intense fires are burning.
The region has few roads and relies heavily on air travel. Thousands of people have already evacuated to cities farther south in Ontario.
Major forest fires have become a regular occurrence in Canada, home to some of the world’s largest forests. Climate experts say rising temperatures have led to drier timber and increased fire risk.
MORE FAVORABLE WEATHER EXPECTED
The federal Natural Resources Department said on Saturday 69 new fires were reported overnight in Canada, raising the total to 955.
The total area burned is almost 11,000 square miles (28,500 square km), well below the five-year average. But winds have carried the smoke south of the Canada-U.S. border, prompting authorities to issue air quality alerts and health warnings in parts of the United States.
As of 8 a.m. ET (1200 GMT), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s AirNow site rated the air quality as “unhealthy” in an area including southern Ontario, eastern areas of Ohio and West Virginia, most of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, much of Virginia and all of Maryland, Delaware and Washington, D.C.
Parts of western Pennsylvania, including Pittsburgh, were rated “very unhealthy.” AirNow predicted that the air quality in those areas would improve during the day.
Smoke from the Canadian fires will have only a minimal impact on Sunday’s soccer World Cup final at New York New Jersey Stadium, forecaster AccuWeather said on Friday.
Wildfire activity in Ontario has started to slow over the last 24 hours and “much more favorable weather” is expected over the next few days, according to Mike Harris, the Canadian province’s natural resources minister.
(Reporting by David Ljunggren and Maria Cheng in Ottawa; Additional reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt in WashingtonEditing by Sergio Non, Ros Russell, Rod Nickel)
Comments