Northwest firefighters head to Canada to help attack wildfire

BOISE – For the first time, U.S. officials have sent firefighters to help battle a giant blaze in Canada that has destroyed parts of Fort McMurray in Alberta.

The National Interagency Fire Center said 100 firefighters flew out of Boise on Wednesday morning and another 100 left from Missoula.

Officials said the firefighters are from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Forest Service, and Fish and Wildlife Service.

The blaze has forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate, burned nearly 2,000 structures and hurt the region’s oil sands industry because of production shutdowns.

Earlier this month, the U.S. sent two air tankers from Minnesota to a different wildfire in the province of Ontario.

Canada has sent firefighters to the U.S. each of the last five years.