Canada wildfires burn 4 million hectares this summer

Canada's wildfires have burned 4 million hectares so far this summer, while officials try to strengthen firefighting capacity and protect communities from future blazes.

The current season is not on track to match the 2023 record of 18 million hectares burned, but the damage has been widespread. In British Columbia, 15,000 people have been ordered to evacuate their homes. Residents of major eastern cities including Toronto faced some of the world's worst air quality last month.

The federal government announced in May that it would spend CAD$317 million, or US$227 million, over five years to establish national aerial firefighting surge capacity. The money is being used to lease 10 aircraft that can be sent to provinces facing growing fires.

Ottawa is also backing a CAD$150 million programme to clear flammable vegetation and other material from populated areas. Provinces have increased firefighting capacity, including Quebec, where SOPFEU staffing levels are up 40 percent.

Experts quoted by AFP said Canada remains highly exposed. Patricia DeRepentigny, a University of Ottawa geography professor, said Canada's boreal forests and rising average temperatures make conditions especially conducive to intense and extensive forest fires.

Canada is also vulnerable to pyrocumulonimbus clouds, or “fire clouds,” in which large fires create wind and lightning that can spark more fires. DeRepentigny said fire clouds were recorded 140 times in Canada in 2023, compared with once or twice a year historically.

SOPFEU meteorologist Claudia Vaillancourt said crews can do little when such fire clouds form except pull back and reposition behind the fire.