Alberta will join several other Canadian provinces that have stepped up to help battle the raging wildfires in Los Angeles, California.
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Thousands of firefighters have been battling roaring flames in the Los Angeles area, that have left neighbourhoods in ruin while killing at least five people.
“Our hearts go out to everyone in California who has been evacuated due to the devastating forest fires,” said Alberta premier Dannielle Smith on X. “Good neighbours are always there for each other in times of need, and we will assist our American friends in any way they need during this crisis.”
The province is preparing to deploy an incident command team and additional wildfire-fighting resources to support California, including water bombers and night vision helicopters.
Smith said Alberta is also actively working with the federal government and the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC) to assess California’s needs.
Early Thursday CIFFC said it received a request from the National Interagency Fire Centre regarding two Canadian airtankers and is “working closely with Canadian member agencies” to process it.
The agency noted there are no fire crew requests at this time.
“We are also proactively working to identify potential resource availability, should more requests come in,” said CIFFC in an emailed statement Thursday morning, adding that they remain in close contact with their colleagues south of the border.
Both WestJet and Air Canada had advisories up regarding the potential impact of wildfires on flights to and from Los Angeles International Airport, although the Calgary International Airport had no delays or cancellations listed as of 11 a.m. Thursday.
Some Canadian support was already in Los Angeles Wednesday, with two Canadian-made water-bombing planes from Quebec and several helicopters from a British Columbia-based company.
“We’re no stranger to the challenge of wildfires, and California’s been there to help our Canadian firefighters out time and time again,” said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in a late Wednesday X post. “Canadian water bombers are already in action on the front lines.”
Quebec premier François Legault and Ontario premier Doug Ford also shared messages of support on X.
More to come…
— With files from The Canadian Press and Associated Press