As catastrophic wildfires continued to spread through Los Angeles on Thursday, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announced her province was preparing to help with the natural disaster.
“We are preparing to deploy California Incident Command Team support, as well as additional wildfire fighting resources, including water bombers and night vision helicopters.” Smith said in a post on X.
As of early Thursday morning, California officials said five people had already died from fires that broke out in the Los Angeles area earlier this week. About 130,000 people in the region are under evacuation orders, and more stories of evacuees’ harrowing escape from the flames are emerging as the fires continue to consume buildings.
“Our hearts go out to everyone in California who was evacuated due to the devastating wildfires,” Smith said. He added: “Good neighbors are always there for each other in times of need, and we will help our American friends in any way they need during this crisis.”
“Alberta is also actively working with the federal government and the Canadian Interagency Wildfire Center (CIFFC) to assess California’s needs.”
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Alberta is no stranger to the threat posed by wildfires in recent years, with many municipalities and regions seeing evacuation orders.
In July 2024, thousands were forced to evacuate Jasper National Park when fires swept through the area and destroyed much of the Jasper city site. In 2016, wildfires in the Fort McMurray area led to the evacuation of tens of thousands of people and destroyed about 2,400 structures.
The current wildfire situation in the Los Angeles area has seen hurricane-force winds help ignite fires across blocks of the coastal neighborhood of Pacific Palisades as well as in Altadena. On Wednesday night, officials held a news conference to provide an update on the situation as helicopters dropped water on the raging fire just about a kilometer and a half from an area that includes the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the TCL Chinese Theater. .
—With files from The Associated Press
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