More South African firefighters could soon be en route to Canada to help battle the country's still-raging fires.

The weekend saw the smoke from fires along Canada's east coast cast a pall over a large swathe of North America. In the US, by Friday, 21 states had issued air quality warnings, warning citizens of hazardous contaminants. Health authorities called for people to wear masks outdoors and, if possible, to stay inside until the air quality improved.

Speaking to Daily Maverick from Alberta, Canada, on Sunday, South African Trevor Abrahams, managing director of Working on Fire, said the weather pattern had developed positively for fire fighting as "precipitation and the temperature is higher than the humidity ... but across Canada, the weather changes dramatically from day to day". He says the extreme weather brings precipitation and cooling, but also lightning - "so you can't be too optimistic".

More than 100 million people have been affected by air quality in the US, owing to smoke from Canada's wildfires. A smoky haze covered Toronto last week. It recorded the worst air quality in the world with authorities handing out N95 masks and cancelling outdoor events.

Toronto was closely followed by Montreal, Washington DC and New York City, which is undergoing its worst air quality on record. New York state governor Kathy...