Canada only 'halfway through' wildfire season: officials

Canada only 'halfway through' record-breaking wildfire season: officials

Drought conditions and above-normal temperatures are expected to cause abnormally intense wildfires across Canada in July and into August, the federal government said Thursday.

“Drought is a major contributing factor affecting parts of all provinces and territories and intensifying in some regions,” Michael Norton, director general of the Northern Forestry Centre at Natural Resources Canada, said during a technical briefing.

“When coupled with forecasts for ongoing above-normal temperatures across most of the country, it is anticipated that many parts of Canada will continue to see above-normal fire activity.”

In July, warm and dry conditions are expected to increase wildfire risk from British Columbia and Yukon across the country all the way to western Labrador.

Fire risk is expected to shrink slightly in August, but will still stretch from British Columbia through to western Quebec.

As of Wednesday, there have been a total of 3,412 forest fires in the country this season, well above the 10-year average of 2,751.

Fires are burning simultaneously from coast to coast. Currently, there are .

A RECORD-BREAKING FIRE SEASON

The unprecedented wildfire season has set multiple new records.

On June 27, Canada surpassed its known historic record for total area burned by wildfires in one season. As of Thursday, 8.8 million hectares — or 88,000 square kilometres — burned, nearly 11 times the 10-year average of total area burned by this date.

The previous record was set in 1989, when 7.6 million hectares — or 76,000 square kilometres — of area was reported burned. The 10-year average is 805,196 hectares — or 8,051.96 square kilometres — burned.

The 2023 wildfire season has already seen the highest number of evacuations in a given year compared to the past four decades, with more than 155,000 people forced to evacuate their homes due to fire and smoke to date.

Canada also has the largest number of international firefighting resources in the country this year — and from more countries than ever before. To date, 3,258 firefighters and other staff from 11 countries in six continents have supported Canada — with roughly 1,765 currently in the country.

The country has so far received assistance from Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, the United States, Chile, Costa Rica, Mexico, France, Spain, Portugal, South Korea and the European Union. And the government is actively looking to identify other possible partners to battle this year’s intense flames.

“The 2023 fire season is and will continue to be record-breaking in a number of ways,” Norton said.

“And we are only approximately halfway through the fire season.”

Canada’s wildfire season historically runs from April through September, but the federal government has repeatedly said fire seasons are starting earlier and lasting longer in many parts of the country.

HOW MUCH WILL THIS WILDFIRE SEASON COST CANADA?

The total cost of this wildfire season has yet to be determined, but Norton said it will be “very significant.”

The average cost to fight fires in Canada has been increasing annually and is now “easily approaching” $1 billion per year, he said. Norton expects the dollar figure associated with suppressing this year’s wildfires to reach a new height.

“The scale of this year's activity and the fact that there are about three months left, I mean, there's no question in my mind that the direct cost of suppression will be a new record,” he said.

The total cost of wildfires to the economy and society is a much bigger question, which Norton said economists are actively researching.

“It is a difficult one to quantify, but it is something that quite a number of people are actively working on to get a better handle on,” he said.

The impacts of the 2016 Fort McMurray fires on the city, Canada’s energy sector, as well as individual and public health were “really significant,” and one study estimated the total cost of that one fire to be close to $10 billion, Norton noted.

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