Canada declines Russia's offer of water bombers to help fight wildfire

Canada has turned down offers from the international community to help fight the Fort McMurray wildfire, including one from Russia to provide water bombers.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the offers were "touching", but not necessary.

"The good news is from the support that we've seen from Canadians across the country - different provinces sending over water bombers, engaged in all sorts of different ways, firefighters coming from all across the country to help - is that there is no need to accept any international assistance at this point. But we certainly thank everyone for their generosity," he said.

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The United States, Mexico, Australia, Taiwan, Israel and the Palestinian Authority have all offered help, reports the Globe and Mail.

Public safety minister Ralph Goodale said Canada remained in control of the crisis and that what was actually needed was help from the weather.

"The decision was made by the firefighters in the emergency management system that foreign help wasn't necessary because of the nature of this blaze," he said. "This beast is so big the only thing that will fix it is rain."

More than 40 journalists were allowed into Fort McMurray to record scenes of the devastation.

The number of buildings destroyed in the city has been updated to 2,400, with 85 per cent of the community remaining intact.

The fire is smaller than anticipated due to the cooler weather and efforts of firefighters from across the country, said Alberta Premier Rachel Notley.

Wood Buffalo Fire Chief Darby Allen told Global News Canada officials had done all they could to stem the blaze.

"There were hundreds of people, emergency services staff that gave their all. I do truly believe we couldn't have done any more. We did our best. The good news is… there are many, many images of areas untouched," he said.

Russia offers water bombers to help Canada tackle wildfire

9 May

Russia has extended a helping hand to the Canadian government in its battle against an enormous forest fire in the northern state of Alberta.

A spokesman for the Russian embassy in Ottawa said on Sunday that they were "ready to help our Canadian partners to fight the ongoing wildfires in Alberta".

The Kremlin backed up the statement with an offer to send water bomber aeroplanes and fire containment specialists to Alberta, where firefighters are facing a 400,000-acre blaze which is predicted to be the most costly disaster in Canadian history, CTV News reports.

The Canadian government has yet to respond to the offer, but Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has previously expressed his desire to thaw the diplomatic chill between the two nations and establish a constructive dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

To put the scale of the fire into context, an image posted by Canadian magazine Maclean's on Thursday superimposed the size of the burning area onto maps of various cities. If the fire were in Britain, it would engulf Greater London. Since the graphic was posted, the size of the fire has more than doubled.

More than 100,000 people have been evacuated in and around the city of Fort McMurray, where some neighbourhoods have been engulfed by flames. Around 1,600 buildings are thought to have been destroyed, although local MP David Yurdiga told ABC that about 80 per cent of homes were still standing.

While the spread of the fire has slowed drastically thanks to favourable weather and the efforts of more than 500 firefighters, officials warn it could be months before the flames are entirely quenched.

As well as the millions of dollars' worth of damage to property, the blaze is making a dent on the region's economy. The area is the heart of Canada's oil region and home to the third-largest known oil reserves in the world. Around a quarter of the country's oil production has been shut down, the BBC reports, raising concerns about the long-term economic effects of the disaster.