Ontario to buy 11 new aircraft for wildfire fight

The province of ​Ontario will spend C$650 million ($465 million) on ‌five new helicopters and six new water bombers to help fight fast-spreading wildfires, Premier Doug Ford told a press ​conference on Friday.

Heavy smoke from hundreds ​of Canadian fires enveloped a swathe of ⁠the U.S. from the Midwest to the Northeast ​on Thursday, prompting warnings from officials that residents ​should stay indoors wherever possible.

Ford did not say when the planes would arrive.
"We will not put a price ​on the safety of our communities ... we ​will spare no expense," he said.

So far, Ontario has ‌deployed ⁠150 fire crews on the ground and more than 80 water bombers and helicopters.

The fires are concentrated in the remote and sparsely populated ​northwest region ​of the ⁠province, where the only mode of transport is air.

"This is a very ​difficult situation, even to fly in ​to ⁠these communities on dirt runways when the fire is going," said Ford.

So far 650,000 acres (26,300 square ⁠km) ​are on fire, compared to ​600,000 acres at the same time last year.

-Reuters