HAMILTON, Ontario —James Taylor is helping people evacuated from a huge wildfire in Canada by turning two Alberta concerts in June into benefits. He says proceeds from tickets to his shows in Calgary and Edmonton will be donated to the Canadian Red Cross. He says it’s a major national catastrophe and impossible to ignore.

Taylor says the idea came from conversations with his Canadian manager Sam Feldman as he arrived for a 15-concert tour of Canada.

More than 80,000 residents of Fort McMurray have been displaced by the fires, which began last week.

Taylor has frequently participated in fundraising events.

—From news services