Some 25,000 Canadians have been forced from their homes due to dozens of forest fires that they burned over 120,000 hectares in the western province of Albertawhere it was declared emergency state.

“We have declared a state of emergency” in the province to ensure “the safety, health and well-being of Albertans,” Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said at a conference. press following a meeting of his government’s emergency management committee.

This Canadian province, one of the largest oil producing regions“It had a hot, dry spring and with so much wood, it only takes a few sparks to start some really scary wildfires,” Smith explained. “These conditions resulted in the unprecedented situation facing our province today“, he added, according to the AFP news agency.

Thousands of people have been warned to be ready to leave their homes at any time.

Smith said some 122,000 hectares had burned so far.

Almost all of Alberta and much of the neighboring province of Saskatchewan, as well as a large swath of the Northwest Territories, deal with extreme fire hazardsaccording to a federal government fire hazard map.

Federal Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair tweeted that Ottawa stands ready to provide federal assistance if needed.

Oil sands facilities were monitoring the hazards closely, but none reported any interruptions to their production.

Drayton Valley, a population of 7,000 and located approximately 140 kilometers west of Edmonton, was among the communities evacuated as Firefighters are battling an out of control blaze.

About 550 kilometers north of the provincial capital, a severe fire destroyed 20 homes, a general store and a police station in the community of Fox Lake. Residents were evacuated by boat and helicopter.

Residents of the town of Edson, which has a population of more than 8,000, have also been ordered “to evacuate immediately”.