Ontario ready to deploy more than 150 firefighters to California, Ford calls situation ‘devastating’

More than 150 Ontario firefighters are standing by and ready to be deployed to California as the state battles unprecedented wildfires, which have displaced more than 100,000 residents and left five people dead.

“Ontario will always stand ready to serve. I’ve directed officials to send every available water bomber to fight these fires,” Ford said in a post on X Thursday morning, calling the situation on the U.S. west coast, “devastating.”

The province says two waterbombers and pilots, 165 urban firefighters, and 20 additional emergency response personnel are available to head west, should they be called upon.

Since Tuesday, some 130,000 people have been told to evacuate their homes as fires burn in the affluent neighbourhoods of Pacific Palisades and Hollywood Hills in the west and Altadena in the east, as well as other areas in between.

Hurricane-level winds observed earlier this week propelled fires from one neighbourhood to another and fire hydrants in some areas ran dry due to the surge in use. Officials say dry winds contributed to the spread of fires in Southern California, an area which has seen less than three millimetres of rain since early May.

At least five people have died, and firefighters are working to get the remaining blazes under control. So far, the fires have already burned an area roughly the size of the city of San Francisco and the blaze in Pacific Palisades has been declared the most destructive in Los Angeles history.

Ford said the province will provide whatever personnel and equipment is needed and “spare no expense” to support the affected areas. The province said it is coordinating with the federal government and the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre on how and when its resources will be deployed.

So far, two Canadian-made CL-415 planes belonging to the Quebec government have been sent to California to provide support, as well as some helicopters belonging to B.C.-based Coulson Aviation.

With files from The Associated Press