Biden Orders Deployment of ‘All Available’ Resources to Aid Canada in Wildfire Battle

President Joe Biden on Wednesday offered the maximum possible boost in firefighting aid to Canada in a phone call to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the White House reported.

The offer of more American help came as Canada's wildfires pitched New York City and parts of New England into an eerie twilight of heavy smoke pollution from the wildfires raging across the northern border.

New York rocketed to the worst pollution level of any major city in the world, which threatened the health of its residents, who were warned to stay indoors.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Wednesday that a million N95 masks would be provided to residents who needed to leave their homes.

Some 400,000 of the masks were being distributed at subway stations, the Port Authority Bus Terminal, state parks and the Javits Center in Manhattan.

As for Canada, the U.S. has already deployed more than 600 American firefighters, support personnel and other firefighting resources in the wildfire fight. 

Biden and Trudeau committed in their talk to continued cooperation to prevent wildfires and to address dealing with the health impacts, according to the White House.