Faced with the situation that seems out of control in Canada, several EU countries have offered to send 300 firefighters to help local teams fight the raging forest fires there. “Canada has asked the EU for support through the Civil Protection Mechanism and we are responding promptly,” said the President of the European Commission.
Several EU countries have offered to send nearly 300 firefighters to Canada to help fight the raging forest fires there, European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen announced on Wednesday. “We stand in solidarity with Canada in the face of the terrible forest fires. Canada has asked the EU for support through the Civil Protection Mechanism and we are responding promptly. France, Portugal and Spain have offered to send over 280 firefighters,” she tweeted.
We stand in solidarity with Canada in the face of the terrible forest fires.
Canada has requested support from the EU Civil Protection Mechanism – and we are responding promptly.
are offering the help of more than 280 firefighters.
More will come.
—Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) June 8, 2023
An exceptional situation
“More help will come,” she assured. After the Canadian provinces of Alberta (west) and Nova Scotia (east), Quebec is hard hit by historic fires and is impatiently awaiting international reinforcements, while the smoke from some 400 Canadian blazes affects the United States. United.
The situation is considered exceptional by the authorities in terms of the number of hectares burned at this time of year. Canada as a whole is experiencing an unprecedented year: around 2,300 forest fires have been recorded and around 3.8 million hectares have been burned, a total well above the average of recent decades.