More than 1,400 people have been evacuated from a remote community in northern Ontario using massive military transport planes as out-of-control wildfires spread across the province.
On Sunday, Ontario asked the federal government to dispatch military personnel to help evacuate the community of Sandy Lake after a nearby fire expanded, doubling in size toward the edge of town in a few hours.
Defence personnel said they had evacuated more than 1,400 people by 2 p.m. Tuesday afternoon.
The evacuations mark the latest twist in an already busy fire season in the province, one critics argue the Ontario government failed to prepare for.
Data from the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre shows that the area of Ontario burned so far this year is already 38 times higher than it was last year.
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The province has recorded 174 fires to date, compared with 97 last year. The 174 fires so far this year are above the five- …