The province of Alberta has been affected since early May by fires of unprecedented magnitude. The province declared a state of emergency and requested assistance from the federal government.
Some 70 fires were still active on Friday, twenty of which were out of control. "Literally hundreds of thousands of animals are potentially affected because of the vastness of the area," said Danielle Smith, premier of Alberta.. Canada is a major agricultural exporter and is one of the largest oil-producing regions in the world. Almost half of Alberta's farms are cattle farms.