Eastern Canada struggles to bring wildfires under control

FILE PHOTO: Smoke from the Tantallon wildfire rises over houses in nearby Bedford, Nova Scotia, Canada, May 28, 2023. REUTERS/Eric Martyn/File Photo

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia (Reuters) -Wildfires that have already forced thousands in Canada's Nova Scotia province to evacuate were threatening communities on the outskirts of Halifax on Wednesday and causing poor air quality hundreds of miles away as smoke drifted across the U.S. border.

Dozens of firefighters and several water bombers battled two out-of-control blazes - dubbed the Tantallon Fire and the Bedford Fire - northwest of downtown Halifax, the provincial capital. More than 18,000 people have fled their homes, most of them in the heavily forested fringes of the city, but there have been no reported fatalities.