Fires continue to break out in North America due to a long drought. On Maui, a residential area in the city of Lahaina had to be evacuated, in Canada’s Northwest Territories even an entire town.
Because of a new bush fire, the authorities on the Hawaiian island of Maui have cleared a residential area. The evacuation order applied to a residential area in the city of Lahaina, located on hills above hotel resorts, which was almost completely destroyed in the fire disaster almost three weeks ago, as the US State of Hawaii’s emergency agency announced on Twitter’s successor X.
The authority announced later in the day that residents could return. The fire is said to have devastated four hectares of land. It erupted just a few kilometers from the urban area that had been devastated in recent wildfires. It was initially unclear how many people were affected by the evacuation order.
According to the authorities, at least 115 people died in the fire disaster on Maui on August 8, and around 2,000 buildings were destroyed. The blazes in downtown Lahaina were fueled in part by high winds from a distant hurricane and a drought in the area caused by lack of rain.
Village in Canada evacuated
In Canada, forest fires are again driving people out of their homes. The town of Hay River in the Northwest Territories has been evacuated as a precaution because of a rapidly spreading forest fire. According to the fire department, the flames were a good kilometer away from the place with almost 4,000 residents. More than 200 helpers were deployed to prevent the flames from spreading to houses.
The government warned on Friday that those who remain in the village do so at their own risk. It was difficult to leave in such grim circumstances, Mayor Kandis Jameson wrote on Facebook. She and many others were flown to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
“Worst wildfire season any times”
“Canada is in the middle of its worst wildfire season ever,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said at a summit of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), an institution that finances environmental projects in developing countries. Currently, tens of thousands of people in the Northwest Territories have had to flee the flames.
The fire is also eating through the province of British Columbia, which everyone can see from the ubiquitous smoke in the air. In some way, all Canadians are affected by the fires – even when it comes to housing and caring for evacuees, the premier said.