Canadian military to assist in Ontario community wildfire evacuations: Carney
Armed Forces aircraft and personnel have been deployed to northwestern Ontario community
Canadian Armed Forces troops will help evacuate Sandy Lake First Nation, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Sunday morning, as a wildfire moves toward the northwestern Ontario community.
Sandy Lake officials issued an evacuation order Saturday, after the fire, known as Red Lake 12, was spotted moving northward toward the community in the province's Kenora district.
The First Nation is a fly-in community located about 600 kilometres northwest of Thunder Bay.
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Carney said Ontario had made a request for federal assistance "in response to rapidly spreading wildfires" in that part of the province.
The prime minister wrote on X that CAF aircraft and personnel have been deployed to support in the emergency evacuations.
"To everyone who's been impacted by these fires: we're here for you. We're prepared to mobilize every resource needed to keep Canadians safe," Carney wrote.
Air quality warnings
Ontario Forest Fires says in a Facebook post that community officials are asking residents to gather at the southeast corner of Sandy Lake, where fire management staff are mobilizing boats.
Red Lake 12 has grown to a size of more than 66,000 hectares in the region, and it is not yet under control.
Restricted fire zones in northwestern Ontario. (OpenStreetMap contributors/CBC News)
Smoke from the fire has pervaded many parts of the province, leading to air quality statements and warnings.
The latest information about wildfire activity in Ontario can be found on the province's interactive fire map.
Thumbnail courtesy of Neal Gillespie/Facebook via CBC News.
The story was originally written by and published for CBC News.