Top US senator urges increased personnel to mitigate Canada wildfire effects

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday called on Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to double the number of U.S. personnel available to help fight wildfires raging in Canada and to mitigate the risk to American air quality.

The chamber's top Democrat said he would send a letter to Vilsack laying out his requests, while calling the wildfires that have led to unhealthy air quality in major U.S. cities the latest example of the global climate crisis.

"The climate crisis is real and it is here to stay. We must take action against the climate crisis, both short-term and long-term," Schumer said in a speech on the Senate floor.

"I am calling on Secretary Tom Vilsack to double the number of Forest Service personnel deployed to fight these fires," he added. "I am calling on the secretary of Agriculture to double the number of personnel to mitigate the risk in the air for millions of Americans."

(Reporting by David Morgan, Katharine Jackson and Rami Ayyub; editing by Jonathan Oatis)