Schumer calls for doubling the number of U.S. firefighters deployed to Canada

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, said in a floor speech on Thursday that he’s calling for U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to “double the number of Forest Service personnel deployed” to fight the wildfires in Canada that are causing poor air quality in the eastern U.S. The Biden White House said late Wednesday that so far the U.S. has deployed more than 600 American firefighters and support personnel to respond to the fires, as well as provided other firefighting assets. President Joe Biden has “directed his team to deploy all available federal firefighting assets that can rapidly assist in suppressing fires impacting Canadian and American communities,” the White House said.