Manitoba prepares to house thousands of evacuees as wildfires burn out of control

Smoke alerts and heat warnings are in place across the country this weekend, as thousands of people are fleeing their homes from out-of-control wildfires.

In a rare occurrence, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew declared a second provincewide state of emergency this week, calling upon the military to airlift residents from northern communities toward safer areas, emphasizing the severity of this year’s historically bad wildfire season. The province was under a state of emergency from May until late last month, during which more than 21,000 people had been evacuated.