Albany officials dispatched seven forest rangers to Quebec to aid with firefighting efforts there as much of New York was choked by thick wildfire smoke blowing down from nearly 150 blazes in the Canadian province.
Gov. Hochul announced Thursday that the team of Department of Environmental Conservation Forest Rangers would join firefighters from other border states like New Hampshire and Maine to help the Canucks try to contain the raging infernos.
The deployment came a week after a state forest ranger was sent to serve as the boss of a multi-state New England crew sent to fight wildfires to the east in Nova Scotia.
More than 430 fires were burning across almost every section of Canada, with 234 deemed “out of control,” according to the Canadian Interagency Forrest Fire Centre.
“While we continue to monitor the haze caused by smoke from Canadian wildfires, we are fortunate to have Forest Rangers trained and ready to take on the daunting task ahead,” said Hochul in a statement.
“New Yorkers are always at the ready to help those in need, and I thank our brave wildland firefighters whose efforts will be critical in containing these wildfires,” the Democrat added.
The hard-to-get-to rural blazes have been fueled by extremely dry conditions, forecasters say.
Quebec Premier François Legault said his province only has the capacity to battle about 40 fires — and reinforcements have been scarce due to the nationwide emergency.
The White House has sent more than 600 firefighters to Canada, and nearly a thousand more have arrived from countries like Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
The deployment came as experts warned that New York City could be inundated by more smoke and haze in the coming weeks and months from the ongoing disaster up north, even as dangerous air quality concerns were expected to be quelled by the weekend.
Officials say this year’s Canadian wildfire season was shaping up to be the worst in history. Some 420 million acres have been destroyed and 20,000 Canadians have already been displaced, according to the CIFFC.
With Post wires
