The federal government says it’s expecting to send resources to Los Angeles as soon as Thursday night to help in the battle against the deadly and devastating wildfires that have killed at least five people.
Emergency Preparedness Minister Harjit Sajjan said in a post on X the federal government, alongside Ontario, Quebec and Alberta, was ready to deploy 250 firefighters, aircraft equipment and other resources “as early as tonight.”
He added the Canadian Armed Forces were also standing by to move personnel and equipment.
Ottawa’s planned move comes just hours after the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC) said in a statement to Global News it had received a request overnight from the National Interagency Fire Center. The request was for two CL-415 skimmer air tankers with flight crews to operate in southern California.
“CIFFC is working closely with Canadian member agencies to process the request,” a spokesperson wrote in an email.
The CIFFC said that it could not provide a timeline for when the air tankers could be delivered, adding it is working to identify potential resources should more requests for help come in.
As of Thursday, no other resources from the CIFFC were in the U.S.
The federal government has also said it is communicating with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) about the wildfires and is working with U.S. National Interagency Coordination Center (NICC) and provinces.
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Emergency Preparedness Minister Harjit Sajjan said in a post on X that resources and equipment would be mobilized as needed.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters in Washington, D.C., on Thursday he’s been “back and forth exchanging” with California Gov. Gavin Newsom to offer Canadian resources.
“Unfortunately, Canada has developed a significant amount of expertise in wildfires that are encroaching on suburban and urban areas,” said Trudeau, who was in Washington for the funeral of former U.S president Jimmy Carter.
“This is something that we’re all going to have to deal with more in the world over the coming decades with the impacts of climate change, and we’re certainly there to help our American friends.”
Trudeau earlier told CNN he was speaking with Newsom over text, and that Canada has offered California “a tremendous amount of equipment that they’re already accepting.”
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Alberta plans to send water bombers, other aid to battle Los Angeles wildfires
Quebec’s own forest fire protection agency SOPFEU said Wednesday that two water bombers and crews that were already in the region are helping fight the massive wildfires.
According to SOPFEU, the two planes are sent to the U.S. each fall as part of an annual contract, which was extended this year into January because of the emergency.
Alberta also plans to provide help, Premier Danielle Smith announced on X on Thursday.
“We are preparing to deploy incident command team support to California, as well as additional wildfire-fighting resources, including water bombers and night-vision helicopters,” she wrote on X.
A spokesperson for Sajjan’s office confirmed the support announced by Smith is a part of the overall resources the minister referenced in his X post.
Firefighters in the Hollywood Hills were able to knock down a major threat from the Sunset Fire that broke out on Wednesday evening as flames neared the heart of the city. By morning, authorities lifted an evacuation order for the area.
Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Erik Scott said they were able to keep the fire in check because “we hit it hard and fast and Mother Nature was a little nicer to us today than she was yesterday.”
The fires have been raging for several days and led to thousands of structures burning down, with the Pacific Palisades fire becoming the most destructive in the city in modern history after an estimated 1,000 structures had burned as of Wednesday.
—with files from Global News’ Sean Boynton and Phil Heidenreich, The Canadian Press and The Associated Press
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