Canadian wildfires prompt evacuations, smoke blankets US skyline

Firefighters have battled hundreds of forest blazes as Canada's worst-ever early season wildfires prompted the evacuation of thousands and a blanket of smoky air wafting over cities in the United States.

"Right now, with the manpower we have, we can fight about 40 fires at the same time. But we have 150 fires so we have to make sure that we focus where the problems are the more urgent," Quebec Prime Minister Francois Legault told reporters on Wednesday.

About 520 firefighters were battling the blazes with another 150 due to join soon from the army, Legault said, hopeful that 500 more would arrive in the next few days from the neighbouring province of New Brunswick as well as France, the US, Portugal, Spain, and Mexico.

South of the border, more than a dozen US states were under air-quality alerts as smoke from the wildfires wafted south, casting a dull grey pallor over the skyline of New York and other big cities.

There are fires in nearly all of Canada's provinces and territories, with the eastern province of Quebec among the worst affected. The province, Canada's second-most populous, has suffered four times its 10-year average of wildfires so far this year.

Worst-ever year

Residents of the towns of Chibougamau and Ouje-Bougoumou in northern Quebec received evacuation orders Tuesday night, becoming the latest group of people in the province to evacuate homes after thousands were forced out last week.

Around 11,400 people have been evacuated so far from remote parts of northern Quebec and another 4,000 will be evacuated soon, Legault said. With not enough rain in the forecast for Quebec until next week, people should not expect to return home in the next few days, he added.

An unusually early and intense start to wildfire season has set Canada on track for its worst-ever year of fire destruction as warm and dry conditions are expected to persist for months.

In neighbouring Ontario province, Canada's most populous, deteriorating air quality has been forecast this week in cities including Ottawa and Toronto due to smoke plumes.

Wildfires are common in Canada's western provinces, but this year flames have mushroomed rapidly in the country's east.

About 3.3 million hectares have already burnt - some 13 times the 10-year average - and more than 120,000 people have been at least temporarily forced out of their homes.