Troops from the 3rd Canadian Division, tasked with reinforcing the battle against wildfires in northern Saskatchewan, arrive in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan July 6, 2015 in a photo released by the Canadian Forces.HANDOUT/Reuters
Soldiers began helping crews fight wildfires threatening communities in northern Saskatchewan on Wednesday, as other Western provinces called in help from foreign countries.
About 360 troops were out building fire guards and clearing brush near La Ronge and Montreal Lake.
Steve Roberts with Saskatchewan Wildfire Management said crews were making some progress and better visibility allowed aircraft to dump water on some flames.
He said the fire situation across Western Canada is so busy that it is a challenge for provinces to get enough firefighters.
"As we started down the road with these fires, Alberta and British Columbia fire hazards escalated, the numbers of fires increased and they had community evacuations as well," Mr. Roberts said.
"That has stretched the availability of resources across the country."
Flames and thick smoke have forced an estimated 9,000 people from their homes in Saskatchewan. Crews from Quebec, Ontario, Newfoundland, New Brunswick and South Dakota have been helping out.
Mr. Roberts said the province was in discussions with the U.S. government about the possibility of more crews coming north.
The Lac La Ronge First Nation was also seeking volunteers to help fight fires, including evacuees.
The Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, which co-ordinates firefighting services for the provinces, territories and Ottawa, said Canada may have to seek more help from abroad.
The latest report on the agency website said the wildfire hazard is extreme and major wildfires "have the potential to exhaust agency fire resources nationally."
"International mobilization of resources through international co-operators is likely," the website reads. "National resource levels are insufficient to meet occurring and anticipated
wildland fire activity."
On Wednesday, Alberta said it was bringing in 62 firefighters from Mexico to help battle 92 wildfires burning in the province, including 33 listed as out of control.
British Columbia, with more than 180 fires, was to bring in crews from Australia.
About 600 hundred soldiers from Edmonton are in Saskatchewan and those not on fire lines are helping with logistics. The military has said another 500 troops from Shilo, Man., are on standby.
Environment Canada continued to issue special air-quality statements for parts of B.C., Saskatchewan, Manitoba and northwest Ontario due to wildfire smoke.
Wildfire expert Mike Flannigan said tinderbox conditions that have led to the conflagrations in the Western provinces can be blamed on climate change.
"Our weather this year has been very hot, dry and windy," the University of Alberta professor said.
"This is consistent with what we expect with climate change. I'm not saying every year is going to be a bad fire year, but we are going to see a lot more fire on the landscape."
Kerry Anderson, a research scientist with the Canadian Forest Service, said the weather pattern known as El Nino, which is caused by the warming of the Pacific Ocean off the coast of South America, is responsible.
He expects weather conditions will settle down in Saskatchewan in the coming weeks, but warmer-than-normal temperatures will likely persist for awhile in B.C. and Alberta.
Mr. Anderson said even if crews bring the Saskatchewan fires under control, they may not actually be put out until the fall.
"The large fires that are burning there will continue to burn until they are contained or until a fire-ending event may occur, and that may just end up being the first snowfall."