Ontario sending personnel, equipment to N.W.T firefight
Ontario is sending people and gear to help fight fires in the Northwest Territories, where flames are edging closer to the capital.
Yellowknife, home to about 22,000 people, is under an evacuation order, as are several other nearby communities. Half of the population in the Northwest Territories has now been displaced by encroaching fire.
- Download our app to get local alerts on your device
- Get the latest local updates right to your inbox
Ontario's Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry says 65 firefighters, command, and support staff are being dispatched in the coming days, with some arriving in Yellowknife Friday.
The province is also sending equipment, including hoses, pump kits and batteries to power radios.
Some personnel may be shifted to battle fires in British Columbia.
The union representing some fire rangers in Ontario says the province isn't helping as much as it could.
"Ontario forest fire workers are being deployed to assist in the Northwest Territories, but the support they're able to offer is extremely limited due to short staffing," OPSEU President J.P. Hornick said in a statement.
"Our members working at Aviation Forest Fires and Emergency Services (AFFES) want to be able to support other provinces fight wildfires, but program cuts and underfunding by the Ford government has led to a retention crisis that's left us short a third of crews."
Toronto-based charity GlobalMedic is also sending help with two tank and pump systems, a little bigger than a washing machine. The 1,000-litre units can be used to snuff out flames.
"Because it fits on the back of a pickup truck, and there's a lot of pickup trucks in Yellowknife, we're able to turn any one of those pickup trucks into a fire truck," GlobalMedic's Executive Director Rahul Singh said Friday.
Singh expects the first unit to be given to Yellowknife's fire chief Friday, the second on Saturday.
"If we don't get these guys more gear to defend that city, it's gonna be pretty catastrophic what happens there."
The Canadian Red Cross is supporting Yellowknife evacuees who have ended up in Alberta. In Edmonton, the charity is connecting people with shelter, pillows, blankets, and toiletries.
You can donate to the Red Cross' efforts at redcross.ca
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.