Over the past week, wildfires burnt more than 400,000 hectares (1,550 square miles), and forced almost 30,000 people out of their homes. "So I don't think we can let our guard down."Īlberta is the largest cattle producing region in Canada, with almost five million head of cattle, according to government data.ĭotted with open ranges and rolling plains in the shadow of the majestic Rocky Mountains, it has been used as a backdrop for Westerns such as Oscar winners Unforgiven and Brokeback Mountain. "There're still hot spots and, you know, I don't think we're out of danger yet," he said, sporting a days-old beard and a cowboy hat. "It's pretty scary stuff when fire's that close to your home." The blaze that threatened his farm was powerful, he told AFP. Smoke now billows from piles of burnt trees on his wooded lot west of the provincial capital Edmonton. Paddocks that usually hold up to 1,000 cows sit empty and a haze of smoke has reduced visibility to less than five meters (16 feet).įuchs and his son managed to evacuate his herd before the wildfires jumped a nearby river and arrived at his doorstep.
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