The Wildfire situation in Canada has intensified, causing air quality issues that extend far across the border into the United States.
Wildfires across Ontario have grown to roughly 735,000 hectares (1.8 million acres), up from 650,000 hectares.
Around 1,800 residents from remote and First Nation communities in northwestern Ontario have been evacuated to safety hubs like Thunder Bay.
Burning across Ontario, the wildfires have grown to 735,000 hectares (1.8 million acres), from 650,000 hectares over the weekend, Premier Doug Ford said on Monday, as air quality from smoke improved in much of the province but remained unhealthy in parts of the U.S. Midwest.
“We will not spare a penny fighting these fires and keeping people safe,” Ford said.
The wildfires, which are mostly in difficult-to-access areas, have increased tensions between Canada and the U.S., where some politicians have criticized Canada’s response.
Smoke plumes carried southward by high-pressure weather systems have triggered Air Quality Alerts across more than 20 U.S. states.
Heavy smoke from fires in northern and western Ontario as well as northern Minnesota brought the world’s worst air quality to Toronto last week, which then spread to New York and Washington.
Ford said at a press conference in Toronto that the province is battling 190 active blazes and around 1,800 residents had been evacuated from sparsely populated communities in northwestern Ontario.
While conditions have fluctuated in the U.S. Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, air quality levels in parts of the Midwest including Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Iowa, and Missouri have remained at “unhealthy” or “hazardous” levels.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he told Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney that Canada must do better at controlling Ontario wildfires.
Trump said he spoke to Carney about the issue at the that both of them attended on Sunday, two days after threatening to levy on Canadian goods to punish Canada over the wildfire smoke. Carney has not directly responded to Trump, though he has said all countries including the U.S. must do more to address climate change.
