<div style="text-align: justify; "><b style="font-size: 1rem;">A lull in high temperatures brought some relief on Wednesday from wildfires in Alberta in western Canada as reinforcements arrived to help battle the blazes.</b><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In total, 76 forest and brush fires remained active in the province compared to 110 a few days ago, authorities said. Twenty-three are still considered uncontrolled.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Several Canadian provinces -- as well as the US states of Oregon and Alaska -- sent reinforcements to fight the wildfires, which authorities said could flare again as high temperatures return over the weekend.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"We're very happy to have new resources coming in from our colleagues across Canada and colleagues in the United States. And I think that's going to be a much needed boost for firefighters who have been at this, some of them around the clock, for quite a while," Christie Tucker, a spokeswoman for the relief effort, said at a news conference.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The number of evacuees from fire-hit areas dipped to 24,000, down from almost 30,000 last weekend, authorities said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">At least one oil company, Tourmaline, has reopened seven of its nine facilities in Alberta, one of the world's largest oil producing regions. The other two facilities were expected to start up "in the next couple of days," it said in a statement.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Alberta has experienced a hot, dry spring that has been conducive to fire outbreaks. The vast majority of the fires are human-caused.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mayor Allan Gamble of Parkland County voiced relief that "all of our evacuated residents" returned home and two highways leading to the county have reopened.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In the northern part of the province, some Indigenous villages were deeply affected, such as the Cree community of Little Red River.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"There's been a huge loss of infrastructure, no lives thank God, but 4,000 people are evacuated, over 150 homes... have been destroyed or demolished," said Patty Hajdu, federal minister of Indigenous Services.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: justify;">In Yellowhead County, including Evansburg (west of Edmonton), residents were allowed to return home on Wednesday morning.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"The wildfire risk has been reduced thanks to firefighting efforts and the shift in weather," the county said in a statement.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">However, it warned that "wildfires may still be active in the area."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In Fox Creek, cooler temperatures and reduced wind allowed firefighters to fortify containment lines to prevent fires from spreading.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Don't let the skyline and current clear skies deceive you. This fire is out of control and burns deep into the ground. It is a sleeping giant. The situation can change quickly," the county said in an advisory. AFP</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>