To help Canadians get an up-to-date picture of the quality of the air they're breathing in their communities, CTVNews.ca has created a tracker showing the current Air Quality Health Index conditions for 100+ locations across Canada.

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We also built a wildfire location tracker, which uses data from Environment Canada to show the location, size and status of wildfires happening now across Canada. Hover over a marker to see more information about a specific fire.

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The company confirmed to 麻豆影视 Edmonton on Friday the crew change point currently located in the Jasper townsite will be moved to the Dalehurst area, east of Hinton, by September 2025 at the earliest.

Hinton, with a population of about 10,000, is located 75 kilometres east of the Jasper townsite.

CN in a statement on Friday said the decision was made to reduce train stops between Edmonton and Blue River, B.C.

Teamsters Canada Rail Conference on Thursday said it was informed of the decision on Monday during a meeting.

According to the union's general chairperson for western Canada, CN does not yet own any land.

"We had discussions about a year ago. And there have been, over the years, discussions or talk about moving Jasper, but it really was a surprise," Ray Donegan told 麻豆影视 Edmonton.

"What they're telling us is they're doing this for operational efficiencies and we have difficulty seeing where they're going to get these efficiencies as a net result."

The change does not mean approximately 200 union workers currently living in Jasper 鈥� including locomotive engineers, conductors and brake workers 鈥� are out of a job, according to Teamsters.

However, Donegan said they do face great uncertainty over whether they'll be able to continue living in Jasper National Park, as does the town over the potential loss in year-round residents.

"They're just coming through with a catastrophic wildfire," Donegan said. "Nothing like kicking somebody when they're down."

'Another blow'

That sentiment was echoed by locals who consider the rail industry not only a significant part of the local economy but an industry with deep roots in Jasper's history, having played a major role in establishing it as a tourist destination.

"We appreciate that business decisions are made based on a multitude of factors. My concern is the impact that this decision, if it is carried through, will have on our community," Jasper Mayor Richard Ireland said on Friday.

According to him, the municipality was not consulted on the decision and only received advance notice of it on Monday.

Referring to the 200 workers who will be impacted, Ireland said, "Typically, these people support our community in so many ways. Of course, economically. As we come into to fall, it is our local residents who visit coffee shops and local retail stores and keep them operational during our slower, busier months.

"These are the people who support so many community leagues within the town. They provide coaching for minor sports. They work with our service groups or volunteers all over the place, as are their families. That impact on our community will be substantial 鈥� almost immeasurable."

Shelley Koebel, the owner of a laundromat and two coffee shops in Jasper 鈥� and, like Ireland, from a family of railroad workers 鈥� added, "That will be another blow that I don't think Jasper is ready for."

CN said its decision was made with "careful consideration" and that it is committed to supporting its employees through the transition.

"Jasper will always remain an important community for CN and our employees."

When a wildfire burned down about one third of Jasper's buildings at the end of July, CN's bunkhouse sustained smoke damage.

Since the town reopened in mid-August, the company has worked to restore it.

Province to provide $149M for recovery

As Ireland put it, Jasper had "quite a week of news鈥� most of it exceptionally good and most welcome, and some of it disappointing and unwelcome."

On Wednesday, Canada's minister responsible for Parks Canada introduced legislation that would

The next day, the Alberta government announced it will provide $149 million for Jasper's recovery through the province's Disaster Recovery Program (DRP).

Both things, Ireland said on Friday, would help Jasper move quickly on rebuilding efforts.

"The sustainability of the business community (and) the ability for the community to rebuild in a timely manner is a concern," Koebel said.

Under the program, 90 per cent of eligible expenses 鈥� such as infrastructure damage and emergency operations costs 鈥� are covered by the province, while the municipality's remaining share may be submitted for federal reimbursement.

The DRP program does not cover costs, damage or loss that could have been covered by insurance.

The program funded wildfire and flooding recovery efforts in 2023, flooding recovery in northern Alberta in 2020, and wildfire recovery in Fort McMurray and the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo in 2016.

The town will also be asking the provincial government for

The wildfire at the end of July burned down 358 homes and businesses, eliminating an estimated more than $2 million in rolling annual property tax revenue for the municipality.

Officials on Friday said they were in the process of reviewing potential temporary housing providers and had identified possible sites for such housing in Jasper's municipal boundary.

With files from 麻豆影视 Edmonton's Chelan Skulski and The Canadian Press

Neal McLoughlin, superintendent of predictive services, says "aggressive fire behaviour" is ongoing in northern B.C., and wildfires there are expected to remain active possibly into next spring.

He says slightly warmer and drier-than-normal conditions are expected across most of B.C. until the middle of October, with the exception of the northwest and coastal regions, which are forecast to get cooler and wetter weather.

McLoughlin says that while the amount of new lightning-caused wildfires is expected to decrease in the coming weeks, dry forests and grasslands remain a concern because they are highly susceptible to ignition.

Noting that 90 per cent of lightning starts generally happen before September, he is reminding people to stay vigilant as the majority of blazes this fall will be human-caused.

The service reports 74 per cent of the nearly 1,600 fire starts this year were caused by lightning, while 25 per cent were set off by humans.

McLoughlin says B.C. has averaged about 250,000 lightning strikes a year for the last two decades but there were 190,000 this year.

"Although we've seen less lightning this year, more of it has translated into lightning-caused fire," he told a news conference Thursday. "The fuels are more receptive, and there's a higher efficiency of lightning and causing fires in those areas."

McLoughlin says this fire season is ranked fourth for most area burned in the province's history, adding that multiyear drought conditions will continue across B.C., most notably in the northeast and Bulkley Lakes regions.

Forests Minister Bruce Ralston told the news conference that more than 200 wildfires are still burning across B.C. That includes the human-caused Kikomun wildfire near Baynes Lake that forced evacuation orders and alerts for more than 50 properties earlier this week, he noted.

"Because of this swift response, the evacuation order has now been rescinded and the fire is now listed as under control," he said of the actions of BC Wildfire Service crews.

Bowinn Ma, B.C.'s emergency management minister, says no B.C. residents remain under evacuation alert or order, and there are also no properties under evacuation order.

She says about 130 properties are on an evacuation alert, but those are not believed to be primary residences.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.

While the investigation was lengthy and complex, Mounties said in an update Wednesday they have not been able to determine the fire鈥檚 cause.

鈥淓stablishing the cause of the fire is required in order to prove an offence was committed. Additionally, there is also no evidence to suggest the fire was intentionally set by the actions, or inactions, of any individual(s),鈥� police said.

Two people died, most local homes were destroyed and more than 1,000 people were displaced when the fast-moving fire broke out on . Wednesday鈥檚 statement from police notes that the temperature on that day in Lytton was nearly 50 C and winds between 22 and 38 km/h.

The RCMP said an exhaustive search of two places where the fire may have started was conducted, hundreds of videos were reviewed and more than 150 witnesses were interviewed.

Chief Supt. Brad Haugli, the B.C. RCMP's Southeast District commander, said the lack of a conclusion was not due to a lack of effort.

鈥淪ignificant work was done to not only look at establishing and confirming what did happen, but to eliminate what didn鈥檛 happen,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e remain committed to the community and the important need to support all those impacted, while we also join in the collective efforts to rebuild.鈥�

The results of the investigation have been shared with the Village of Lytton, Lytton First Nation, and the family of the two people who died. Details of the investigation will not be released, the RCMP said, explaining that there is a possibility that 鈥渇uture developments鈥� could lead to the case being reopened.   

鈥淚t was very, I would say, hellish-like,鈥� Luna said Tuesday night. 鈥淚t was very just dark. Not a good place to be at that moment. ... Ash was falling from the sky like if it was snowing

Luna was among those who heeded the evacuation order that was issued for the community of about 4,500 in the San Gabriel Mountains east of Los Angeles. The Bridge Fire is one of three major wildfires burning in Southern California and endangering tens of thousands of homes and other structures.

The fires sprung to life during a triple-digit heat wave that finally broke Wednesday. The cooler temperatures brought the prospect of firefighters finally making headway against the flames.

Other major fires were burning across the West, including in Idaho, Oregon and Nevada, where about 20,000 people had to flee a blaze outside Reno.

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In Northern California, a fire that started Sunday burned at least 30 homes and commercial buildings and destroyed 40 to 50 vehicles in Clearlake City, 110 miles (117 kilometres) north of San Francisco. Roughly 4,000 people were forced to evacuate.

California is only now heading into the teeth of the wildfire season but already has seen nearly three times as much acreage burn than during all of 2023.

Evacuation orders were expanded Tuesday night in Southern California as the fires grew and included parts of the popular ski town of Big Bear. Some 65,600 homes and buildings were under threat by the Line Fire, including those under mandatory evacuations and those under evacuation warnings, nearly double the number from the previous day.

Residents along the southern edge of Big Bear Lake were told to leave the area, which is a popular destination for anglers, bikers and hikers. The blaze had charred more than 51 square miles (132 square kilometres) of grass and brush and blanketed the area with a thick cloud of dark smoke .

The acrid air prompted several districts in the area to close schools through the end of the week because of safety concerns. Three firefighters have been injured since the blaze was reported Thursday, state fire managers said.

For Wrightwood, a picturesque town 60 miles (97 kilometres) east of Los Angeles known for its 1930s cabins. threatening wildfires have become a regular part of life. Authorities expressed frustration in 2016 when only half the residents heeded orders to leave.

Janice Quick, the president of the Wrightwood Chamber of Commerce, lives a few miles outside town. Late Tuesday afternoon she was eating lunch outside with friends and they were rained on by embers the size of her thumbnail that hit the table and made a clinking sound.

A friend texted to tell her that the friend鈥檚 home had been consumed by fire, while another friend was watching through her ring camera as embers rained down on her home.

鈥淚鈥檝e never seen anything like this and I鈥檝e been through fires before,鈥� said Quick, who has lived in Wrightwood for 45 years.

In neighboring Orange County, firefighters used bulldozers, helicopters and planes to control a rapidly spreading blaze called the Airport Fire that started Monday and spread to about three square miles (eight square kilometres) in only a few hours. The blaze was ignited by a spark from heavy equipment being used by public workers, officials said.

By Tuesday night, it had charred more than 30 square miles (78 square kilometres) and was heading over mountainous terrain into neighboring Riverside County with no containment, said Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Steve Concialdi. It burned some communications towers on top of a peak, though so far officials said they did not have reports of the damage disrupting police or fire communication signals in the area.

Concialdi said the fire was burning away from homes in Orange County, but there are 36 recreational cabins in the area. He said authorities don鈥檛 yet know if the cabins were damaged or destroyed by the blaze.

Two firefighters who suffered heat-related injuries and a resident who suffered from smoke inhalation were treated at a hospital and released.

Sherri Fankhauser, her husband and her daughter set up lawn chairs and were watching helicopters make water drops on a flaming hillside a few hundred yards away from their Trabuco Canyon home on Tuesday.

They didn鈥檛 evacuate even though their street had been under a mandatory evacuation order since Monday. A neighbor did help Fankhauser鈥檚 89-year-old mother-in-law evacuate, Fankhauser said. The flames died down last night but flared up again in the morning.

鈥淵ou can see fire coming over the ridge now,鈥� Fankhauser said Tuesday afternoon. 鈥淚t鈥檚 getting a little scarier now.鈥�

Peipert reported from Denver.

The service says in its situational report Tuesday that a cold front is sweeping across the Kamloops and Southeast Fire Centres, bringing shifting winds and potential thunder storms as temperatures drop.

It says rain is also forecast in the Peace region.

The update comes as crews battle a fire discovered on Monday in the Southeast Fire Centre.

It says the blaze that is burning next to the community of Baynes Lake, about 50 kilometres southeast of Cranbrook, is about four hectares in size and is burning out of control.

The Regional District of East Kootenay said Monday that a "tactical evacuation" was underway in the Baynes Lake Area, with a total of 14 properties on evacuation order and 38 others on evacuation alert.

That wildfire is among about 220 active fires burning across the province on Tuesday.

Though the service reports that 90 per cent of those fires were caused by lightning, the Kikomun wildfire near Baynes Lake was human-caused.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.

• IN PICTURES: Extreme heat fuels wildfires in California
   

State firefighters said 8,733 structures were threatened, including single and multi-family homes and commercial buildings.

The so-called Line Fire was burning along the edge of the San Bernardino National Forest, about 65 miles (105 kilometres) east of LA. As of Sunday morning, the blaze had charred about 27 square miles (70 square kilometres) of grass and chaparral, leaving a thick cloud of dark smoke blanketing the area.

County officials declared an emergency Saturday evening.

鈥淓xtreme temperatures, wind and lightning strikes have allowed the fire to grow rapidly,鈥� the county said in a statement.

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More firefighters were expected to arrive Sunday. State officials said vegetation is critically dry in the area and temperatures reached more than 100 degrees (39 degrees Celsius) on Saturday with relative humidity dipping to provide ideal conditions for fire growth.

The fire began Thursday evening, and the cause is under investigation.

About 500 firefighters were battling the blaze, supported by water-dropping helicopters that hovered over homes and hillsides, along with aircraft.

The fire produced coiling clouds of dense smoke, and flames could be seen cresting hillside ridges.

No injuries were reported, and no homes or other structures had been damaged or destroyed.

The U.S. National Weather Service said downtown Los Angeles hit a high of 112 degrees Fahrenheit (44 Celsius) Friday, which marked the third time since 1877 that a temperature that high has been reached there.

B.C.'s fire manager determined the approximately 2,400-hectare blaze was sparked as a result of illegal rail cutting near Lytton 鈥� the community that would be six years later 鈥� and ordered CN Rail to reimburse the province for lost land value, firefighting costs and other expenses in 2018.

The company accepted responsibility for accidentally igniting the flames during a period of high winds and extreme fire danger, but challenged the amount of the penalty, accusing the B.C. Wildfire Service of exacerbating the situation with a controlled burn that led to additional spread.

CN Rail's arguments were first rejected by the province's Forest Appeals Commission in 2020, then the B.C. Supreme Court in 2022, then the B.C. Court of Appeal last week.

"This dispute has been outstanding for almost nine years, and decisions have been rendered by three different decision-makers," Justice Janet Winteringham wrote in an , on behalf of the appeal court's three-judge panel.

"The commission reviewed the evidence tendered in considerable detail and explained why it made particular findings 鈥� The chambers judge, correctly, gave deference to the commission."

CN Rail's case focused on a June 17 controlled burn that lasted for weeks, scorching hundreds of hectares of land.

The company argued such an operation was unnecessary 鈥� and did not meet the definition of "fire control" under the province's Wildfire Act, which allows the government to claw back costs of "fire control" for wildfires caused by illegal activity.

CN relied on expert witness Gregory Guyan of California, who had never visited the Lytton area before giving his opinion, but suggested the controlled burn needlessly increased the size of the fire by one-third.

The operation was intended to prevent the fire from spreading further southward 鈥� something Guyan argued could have been accomplished by targeted suppression efforts on the southern flank instead.

The commission weighed his opinion against those of four people involved in the firefighting effort, including James Richardson, B.C.鈥檚 wildfire preparedness officer, who told the Forest Appeals Commission the burn 鈥渨ent perfectly,鈥� and achieved the desired objective.

He noted the prevailing winds in the area shift over the summer months, and begin blowing from the north 鈥� which would have fanned the flames quickly, particularly given the hot and dry conditions.

Winteringham also pointed to testimony from Tim Ewart, a certified incident commander with the BCWS since 1996, who called Guyan's alternative suggestion for a direct attack unrealistic, given the challenging topography around the flames and the fire's extreme behaviour at the time.

The justice accepted CN鈥檚 position that the Forest Appeals Commission can assess "particular fire suppression strategies" when deciding whether the government is entitled to recover costs 鈥� but found it had done so while rejecting Guyan's opinion.

"The province鈥檚 witnesses explained why the ignition operation was necessary to control the fire. The commission accepted their explanation," the judge wrote.

"These witnesses were well-versed in forest fires in this complex terrain. Based on the evidence, the commission determined that the cost of the ignition operation and the resulting damage to resources was directly or indirectly caused by CN鈥檚 contravention."

The study published Wednesday in the journal Nature says only China, India and the United States release more carbon per year than Canada's 2023 wildfires did from May to September.

Lead author Brendan Byrne called the results "pretty shocking," and said they raised concerns about whether Canada's boreal forest can be relied on in the future to absorb more carbon than it emits.

"There's a concern that the more frequent fires could really limit the ability of the forest to take up carbon," said Byrne, a carbon cycle scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California.

The study says extreme hot and dry conditions helped drive wildfires that burned through four per cent of Canada's forest area and led to the evacuation of 232,000 people.

Climate models project that those conditions may become normal by mid-century and lead to increased fire activity.

That raises questions about one of humanity's important allies in the fight to slow climate change.

Canada's forests have long absorbed more carbon than they release and forests around the world are thought to absorb about 25 per cent of human-caused emissions. Increased fire activity, however, "will reduce the capacity of these Canadian forests to continue to act as a carbon sink," the study says.

Any reduction will then have to be reflected in global climate targets to limit global warming, Byrne said.

"If those ecosystems start releasing carbon, that's not something you really account for and it's not something that gets picked up in the Paris Agreement's commitments to reduce emissions," Byrne said.

How Canada accounts for wildfire emissions has drawn the ire of environmental groups in recent years.

The study notes Canada does not count wildfire emissions toward its national greenhouse gas emissions, a decision that differs from United Nations guidelines. Those guidelines suggest countries should treat all carbon emissions on managed lands as human caused.

Instead, Canada treats wildfires as natural disturbances.

Environmental groups have argued that accounting obfuscates the forestry industry's climate impact. It is not charged with wildfire emissions but gets credited for emissions absorbed by forests once they are old enough to be harvested, even if they grew back after wildfires, the groups have argued.

Natural Resources Canada has said its forest sector reporting is backed by continuous scientific consultation and review.

In a shift this year, Canada's greenhouse gas inventory report to the United Nations did for the first time report that the forestry sector had been emitting more carbon than it absorbs. The government said the revised number was based off new estimates that showed the logging industry had harvested a smaller area than assumed before 1990.

Nature Canada, an environmental charity, has called the shift "meaningful," but said it still underreported emissions.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 28, 2024. 

Of the approximately 5,000 Jasper residents forced from their homes by wildfires, roughly 100 of them were Ukrainians who came to the town in search of a stable home.

Now many of them were displaced yet again after their homes, jobs and belongings were destroyed.

Iarema Pokotskyi moved to Canada with his wife and daughter in January. They left Ukraine in 2022 and spent time in Poland, Germany and Denmark before landing in Calgary.

鈥淲e鈥檝e been trying to find a place where we can sit back and relax,鈥� Pokotskyi said.

鈥淏ut that ever-changing circle of places to stay, it was like you never basically feel like you belong somewhere.

鈥淐oming to Canada, we wanted to have the feeling of being secure and to build our own life from scratch, again.鈥�

After running into challenges finding an apartment and jobs in Calgary they decided to try to find a smaller community to live 鈥� which is when they discovered Jasper.

With some help from the community, they found an apartment and jobs and moved in on July 1.

鈥淲e sat back, we relaxed a bit, and we were like, 鈥榃e like this place, let鈥檚 make it home,鈥欌�� Pokotskyi said.

But three weeks later, they were forced to flee again. Pokotskyi said he was in disbelief when the initial evacuation messages started being sent out.

鈥淲e didn鈥檛 want to leave,鈥� he said.

鈥淲hen I was closing the door, I looked up at my daughter鈥檚 bike, some toys, and I had that bad feeling like it鈥檚 probably (the) last time.鈥�

Their home was among the hundreds destroyed.

Olena Sevastyanova made Jasper her home two years ago. Now, she hopes she can return.

鈥淢y apartment where I lived, it has burned and all my things burned too,鈥� Sevastyanova said.

鈥淚 love Jasper, it has my soul.鈥�

Many of the Ukrainians initially found their way to Jasper thanks to Nancy Addison, a resident of the town.

鈥淎 lot of these Ukrainians, they鈥檝e lost everything in Ukraine, and now they鈥檝e lost everything again,鈥� Addison said.

When the war began, she knew she wanted to find a way to help those who were displaced. So, she put up an ad offering a free room for a year and a job at the Bright Spot Family Restaurant.

After a successful first year, she decided to continue trying to find jobs and accommodations.

鈥淭hat started me thinking, 鈥榃ell there鈥檚 got to be other people who would be willing to do this too,鈥� Addison said.

Through the initiative, Addison said they brought more than 100 Ukrainians to Jasper.

Addison was not in Jasper when the wildfires arrived, but she kept tabs on it through her family. She could only watch as the destruction began.

鈥淔or me, that鈥檚 my entire neighbourhood, my entire life of 35 years in that house with the history of my family, my four kids, my mother, my grandparents," she said.

鈥淓verything鈥檚 gone and my husband and I only have two bags of clothing.鈥�

for Jasper residents affected by the wildfires is set to end on Sept. 3.

Jasper鈥檚 director of recovery says conversations are ongoing with all levels of government to see what other supports can be provided.

The uncertainty is leaving the Pokotskyi family, and others, unsure about where to turn next.

鈥淭he lesson is learned: life can be unpredictable, and yes it can be hard, to rebuild, again, and again, and again,鈥� Pokotskyi said.

A has been set up to help the Pokotskyi family.

With files from 麻豆影视 Edmonton's Chelan Skulski

Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation (PBCN) sent a , saying the nearby blaze was about one kilometre wide and spreading quickly due to strong winds.

鈥淭he highway is temporarily open for one-way traffic out of Southend only. Entry into Southend is restricted to essential services,鈥� the post said.

鈥淭he safety and well-being of our community members are our highest priorities, and we ask everyone to follow the evacuation instructions carefully.鈥�

Outgoing evacuees were asked to register for support services using a QR code provided by the Red Cross, while Elders and those with high needs were directed to the community health centre for guidance.

PBCN also handed out gas vouchers for the local fuel station in Southend.

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Residents were encouraged to pack essentials like ID, medications, diapers, formula, food and water for two to three days, and clothing and personal items 鈥渇or an extended stay.鈥�

Southend, located about 600 kilometres northeast of Saskatoon, is home to around 1,100 people.

Evacuees are expected to meet with volunteers at a registration point in La Ronge to connect with the Red Cross for transportation and temporary shelter.

Anyone choosing to stay in Southend despite the evacuation order must sign a waiver indicated their refusal, PBCN says.

鈥淲e understand this is a challenging situation, and we appreciate your cooperation and preparedness.鈥�

This is the second community of PBCN members evacuated this month because of encroaching forest fires.

Residents of Sandy Bay, located south of Southend near the Manitoba border, were on Aug. 13. 

According to the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency, there were 71 active fires in the province as of Wednesday, including eight that were uncontained.

Twenty Indigenous firefighters from across New Brunswick were certified as Type 2 firefighters in April, according to the .

The team, called the Wabanaki Wildland Crew, has members from the (Tobique), (Eel Ground), and (Saint Mary鈥檚) First Nations.

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鈥淲e are the first province in Atlantic Canada to assist in the deployment of an Indigenous firefighting crew. It is an important partnership that will increase firefighting capacity and depth in New Brunswick and across Canada,鈥� said Natural Resources and Energy Development Minister Ted Flemming in a news release.

鈥淭he skills and dedication of all our firefighters on this mobilization are invaluable, and their deployment underscores the importance of collaboration in addressing the growing threat of wildfires.鈥�

The team, along with 11 members of the department鈥檚 firefighting team, will be in Alberta for two weeks.

Before being deployed, a special ceremony was held in honour of the crew and one of its former members who recently died in an accident, John Eric Paul of Sitansisk First Nation.

鈥淎lthough our team is full of eagerness and enthusiasm for our mobilization to Alberta, we are also still recovering after the tragic loss of one of our team members, John Eric Paul, who passed away earlier in August,鈥� said Tim Plant, resource development consultation co-ordinator for Sitansisk.

When describing Paul, Plant says he had an 鈥渦nwavering dedication and passion for his team.鈥�

鈥淢ay his spirit help guide us as we set out on this mobilization and continue on with this work that he loved. As climate change continues to increase favourable conditions for more frequent and intense wildfires, capacity in Indigenous communities to respond to wildfire emergencies is absolutely vital, which is why projects and partnerships like this one are so important,鈥� said Plant.

The province says recruitment efforts for new First Nations members remains ongoing.

鈥淲ith more and more out-of-control wildfires taking place across Canada, and as neighbours, we all need to work together to help each other to mitigate these problems,鈥� said Travis Sappier, capacity development co-ordinator of the Mawiw Council.

鈥淲ith the wildland certification training and deployment, the Wabanaki fire crew is gaining valuable experiences and knowledge which they are able to bring back to New Brunswick and to their own communities. It is an opportunity for them to be role models and it opens new career opportunities while having an impact on fighting the increasing threat and devastation of wildfires.鈥�

For more New Brunswick news, visit our .

The service lifted the designation that means a fire is highly visible or poses a threat to people or public safety from the Corya Creek wildfire about 170 kilometres northeast of Terrace, B.C.

But fire information officer Emelie Peacock says there are still a handful of evacuation orders and alerts impacting communities around the province.

Peacock says the change doesn't mean the wildfire season is over, and more than 700 firefighters and 100 aircraft are still out fighting fires.

Peacock says southern parts of the province saw heavy rain recently, but parts of the north continue to experience drought conditions.

At the same time, strong winds are creating some tree hazards for crews.

The BC Wildfire Service shows that the number of active blazes in the province has fallen to about 295, continuing a downward trend from Friday when there were about 340 fires burning.

It says in an update that rain was expected to be mostly on the coast, with winds increasing in the south.

It says a drying trend is likely to occur quickly due to the underlying drought once the storms move out.

The service says B.C. is "still in the core of our wildfire season," but firefighters are making the most of reduced fire behaviour and good weather.

"Several large fires have moved from being held to under control and many are in the mop up stage," it said.

The wildfire service said earlier that while much of the southern part of B.C. received rain and some parts had heavy precipitation over the weekend, it was accompanied by winds gusting up to 102 kilometres per hour.

The wind "blew trees down along fire lines in the south" and forced a fire camp in Invermere, B.C., to move to another location, but the service says no one was injured.

The number of out-of-control wildfires in the province has dropped to about 79.

The wildfire service says more than 10,000 square kilometres of land has been burned in B.C. in this year's fire season starting April 1.

That followed a record wildfire season in 2023 where more than 28,000 square kilometres of land was burned, forcing the evacuations of communities in regions such as the Okanagan and the Shuswap.

Environment Canada is forecasting a return of warmer, drier weather for most of B.C. as Labour Day weekend approaches.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 26, 2024. 

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In a daily update on the local wildfire situation, Parks Canada says parts of the national park received over 30 millimetres of rain on Friday night.

Cooler temperatures were also in the forecast, which the agency says could further decrease fire activity.

But Parks Canada cautions all that rain could make slopes and burned trees unstable, and gusty or shifting winds could cause fire-weakened trees with loose roots to fall.

The wildfire that prompted a weeks-long evacuation of the park and the Jasper townsite was declared "being held" last weekend.

Jasper National Park and the town are still closed to visitors, but Highway 16 through the park is open and the Icefields Parkway that connects Jasper to Banff and Lake Louise reopened to through traffic last week.

Parks Canada noted in its Saturday update that assessments of dangerous trees adjacent to highways in the park have only determined the routes are safe for people in vehicles.

It said only roads within the townsite and Pyramid Lake Road have been deemed safe for bicycling, running and walking.

Parks Canada says the encouraging progress crews have made in fighting the Jasper Wildfire Complex means the agency will now switch from daily updates to weekly ones, unless the fire becomes more active.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published August 25, 2024

Ma told a news conference Wednesday that the province had spent $483 million on wildfire suppression this fiscal year, compared to $556 million at the same time last year.

"Our position today compared to last year will of course be a little bit of luck around the weather," Ma said. "That being said, we learned a lot of lessons from the 2023 wildfire season."

The province has so far avoided mass evacuations like those seen in the Okanagan last summer, she said, but "while evacuation numbers are low and the southern half of the province is seeing some current relief, we are again still very much in the core wildfire season."

More than 350 wildfires are burning across B.C., 18 properties have been ordered evacuated and 1,600 properties are on evacuation alert, meaning residents must be ready to leave at short notice.

Two fires are categorized as "wildfires of note," meaning they are highly visible or a threat to people or property, after the Komonko Creek wildfire in southeastern B.C. lost the designation.

The remaining wildfires of note are the Shetland Creek fire north of Spences Bridge, which is now classified as "being held" within its current or predetermined perimeter, and the 2.5-square-kilometre Corya Creek fire in the northwest.

The Corya Creek fire is among the 29 per cent of the province's fires that the BC Wildfire Service classifies as burning out of control.

Forrest Tower with the wildfire service said Wednesday that firefighters had been "pretty fortunate with the weather conditions," enabling them to get many fires under control.

Tower said some parts of the province are still seeing hot and dry conditions, but crews have been dealing with smaller blazes and have been able to snuff them out more quickly and with less effort.

"In general, we are in a much different place than we were last season going into the fall," he said.

The latest bulletin from the service says the forecast for most of the province is pointing to cloudy skies with seasonal temperatures and light winds.

Areas in southern B.C. will see some rain, which will be heavier along the coast, with a chance of lightning in the southeast and on southern Vancouver Island.

A warming and drying trend is returning to the north, where bulletins about smoky skies have been issued for the Peace, Williston and Stuart-Nechako regions.

Resource Minister Nathan Cullen told Wednesday's briefing that although rain has provided relief in some parts of B.C., a quarter of the province is still at drought level four, meaning adverse economic and environmental impacts are likely. Drought conditions in other areas are even worse.

"We have a number of key regions, Bulkley Lakes, Upper Fraser West, Vancouver Island, that are at level five, which is the highest level we can have for drought," he said. "You put all that together, the rain certainly helps, but it shouldn't take down our vigilance at all."

Drought level five means adverse impacts are almost certain.

Cullen said the need to conserve water remains high.

"Aquifers don't recharge because of one or two rainfalls. They take time, and because we've had such a long drought over the last couple of years, a number of the regions in the province stay in these high elevated levels of drought simply because the aquifers haven't recharged," he said.

"We are still facing the possibility of restrictions in a number of places in the province, so we need to keep on our game."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 21, 2024.

And it warns that the extreme temperatures seen that year were already equivalent to some climate projections for 2050.

"It is inescapable that extreme heat and moisture deficits enabled the ," says the study, published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications.

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That season burned 150,000 square kilometres -- seven times the historical average -- forced 232,000 Canadians from their homes and required help from 5,500 firefighters from around the world, as well as national resources and the military. Smoke drifted as far as western Europe.

"In 2023, we had the most extreme fire weather conditions on record over much of the country," said Piyush Jain, a scientist with Natural Resources Canada. "I think the connection is pretty clear."

The paper finds that although there were differences in how the 2023 fire season played out in Western, Northern, Eastern and Atlantic Canada, the underlying causes were the same. That season had more extreme fire weather -- defined as a combination of heat and drought that exceeds 95 per cent of all fire season days -- than any year since records began in 1940.

Temperatures across the country averaged 2.2 degrees above normal during the fire season.

But while the West's fires were abetted by a drought ongoing for years, Quebec suffered from a relatively new phenomenon known as "flash drought."

"That area was not in drought," said Jain. "It transitioned to drought very, very quickly."

The paper calls flash drought "an emerging process we are only beginning to understand."

The paper finds the long periods of hot and dry weather were worsened by high-pressure zones that blocked the normal movement of air normally driven by the jet stream, a high-altitude river of air circling the planet that drives much of Earth's weather. Most places in Canada experience an average of 14 days under such immobile high-pressure systems. In 2023, areas that suffered the worst fires had as many as 60.

As well, may of those so-called "blocking events" in the West occurred early in the season, hastening mountain snowmelt and increasing the amount of time forests were vulnerable to fire.

"It was driven by these large-scale weather events," Jain said.

The widespread dry weather contributed to making fires that were larger than ever. Although 2023 saw 834 large fires, only 60 of them were responsible for nearly three-quarters of the area burned.

Only seven per cent of the burned area was affected by human-caused flames. Lightning accounted for the rest.

The fires also burned more than 10,000 square kilometres of forest that had already burned within the last three decades.

"This disturbance has the potential to cause extensive post-fire tree regeneration failures, because immature trees cannot provide enough seeds following a fire," the report says.

Some areas could permanently shift to grassland or other ecosystems. Previous research has found frequent reburns have turned boreal forests into broadleaf forests or shrublands.

"If a young forest is not at the stage where it would naturally propagate, you may have those species being eliminated from the landscape," Jain said.

The report says more than 3,000 square kilometres of commercial forest in Quebec is now vulnerable to "regeneration failures."

The new study comes after previous work that has found climate change made the conditions that created the fires up to three times more likely.

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The 2023 combination of extreme heat and drought could be a precursor of what is to come, Jain said. Climate models suggest that under the most extreme carbon emission scenarios, those conditions could be normal by 2050.

"By the middle of the century, we will frequently be getting the same weather conditions we had in 2023," said Jain. "That would have implications for more of these large fire seasons."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 21, 2024.

"It felt like a shell of home," the 25-year-old said in an interview Monday.

"My heart just sank. I'm used to my cats being in there to greet me but the streets were also pretty empty and it just didn't feel like home."

Foubert was among dozens of residents roaming the town Monday on foot, in cars or on bikes. Some were out walking pets.

They were assessing the grey rubble left behind by a wildfire that destroyed a third of the town structures almost a month ago.

The wildfire is now being contained and residents of the picturesque Rocky Mountain town were allowed to return on Friday.

But officials said Monday tourists and visitors, except members of the media, won't be welcome for the foreseeable future.

"There are no hotels, there are no restaurants, there are no businesses open, and we do need the space to get our residents and our businesses back on their feet," said Christine Nadon, the municipality's incident commander, in Hinton, Alta., a town close to the national park's eastern boundary.

Nadon also said there would be a significant police presence in Jasper and officers on patrol will ask visitors to "move on."

When asked, Nadon wouldn鈥檛 say if RCMP would arrest those who refused to leave.

Foubert, who moved to Jasper first as a seasonal worker a couple of summers ago, said she was among 500 Jasperites who returned to their homes over the weekend, but she won't be staying permanently as the future of her employment is uncertain.

She only returned to toss out her fridge, which had become a biohazard, and to help a friend pack belongings.

On Monday, she took photos of the destruction around her as she waited for her friend to finish her chores and leave town again. She said she felt disoriented walking around the community.

Several places that she once visited, including her favourite coffee shop and thrift store, have been reduced to ashes, making it difficult, she said, to map out the streets of the community.

"It feels like you're part of an apocalypse or a war zone, she said.

"There was a lot of life that was being lived in Jasper and it's just so empty and quiet. It's missing part of its soul."

She pointed to a series of concrete staircases next to her that once belonged to erect homes but now lead to nowhere.

Elsewhere, neighbours were seen chatting with one another amid the destruction. One person was seen slamming a hammer on the roof while another was seen cleaning out their garage.

Fences surrounded areas across town that had been destroyed, including the home of Mayor Richard Ireland. Ireland said he expects people to understand that now is not an appropriate time for tourists to visit.

"People respect that our community is suffering," Ireland said. "I do not think that we will be overwhelmed with voyeurism."

Both Ireland and Nadon said many businesses that cater to out-of-town visitors are still assessing damages and figuring out staffing plans before they can reopen.

"The visitor economy, unlike other industries, is so highly dependent on a labour force," Ireland said. "If we don't first look after our residents who provide that labour force, the visitors will not be able to come back."

Among the people hoping tourism returns to normal soon is Kathrin Boehmer, a German who was working as a server in Jasper on a work permit.

She said Jasper has been a "ghost town" since she returned on Friday.

"Everybody is going through difficult times right now," she said.

"When you go to places where you had memories, they're just not there. It's sad."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 19, 2024.

鈥� with files from Jack Farrell in Edmonton 

鈥淲e know what they're going through and how they feel,鈥� said Slave Lake councillor and life-long resident Kimberly Hughes. About one third of Slave Lake, Alta. was destroyed in a 2011 wildfire that caused upwards of $700 million worth of damage.

鈥淭here's honestly no words to describe how that feels when you go back to the community you've called home for so long. It鈥檚 really devastating.鈥�

When she returned after the evacuation, Hughes remembers the strong smell of smoke. Refrigerators, which are particularly vulnerable to smoke damage, were placed outside every home.

But just like other communities destroyed by flames, the town rebuilt.

Besides some empty 鈥渞ecovery lots鈥� -- spaces left empty where residents would not, or could not, rebuild -- Hughes said visitors would never notice signs of the fire more than a decade later. 

Fort McMurray did the same after a 2016 wildfire left 2,400 homes in ruins and forced more than 90,000 to flee.

Teams from the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR) have studied these wildfires and others in West Kelowna and Lytton, B.C. to identify a cause and means of prevention.

鈥淚f we know how structures are ignited, we know how to prevent that from happening,鈥� said ICLR managing director Glenn McGillivray.

鈥淚t's not luck. When we go through and do our forensic investigations, it's a feature or features of a home that helps it survive.鈥�

Communities ignite in wildfires due to embers blowing far ahead from the fire front, McGillivray said. He compared it to 鈥渂illions of lit cigarettes being thrown down on a community.鈥�

Often, it is the building materials and the surrounding property that determine if it will ignite, he said, adding nearby wooden fences, mulch piles and propane tanks all make it easier for a house to catch fire.

鈥淩oofing is really important and siding is very important,鈥� McGillivray said.

In Jasper, he noted several untreated wood shake roofs that easily ignited. In Fort McMurray, many vinyl-sided homes went up in flames.

McGillivray recommends residents use less flammable materials in the rebuild, like metal roofs or asphalt shingles.

He said it was unfortunate to see that many houses rebuilt after the Fort McMurray fires were sided with vinyl.

鈥淲e miss these golden opportunities to make sure that these things don't happen again,鈥� he said.

鈥淲e certainly hope that in Jasper we don't just put Jasper back the way it was. We hope that we put it back better so they don't have to go through this again.鈥�

A full return to normal can take years, according to Dr. Karina Pillay, the former mayor of Slave Lake.

Jasper residents returning home for the first time will face a 鈥渞ollercoaster of emotions,鈥� she said, and it is important that they check in on their mental health.

鈥淚 encourage them to get that back-up support and ask for help,鈥� she said.

鈥淭he mental and physical health of the residents is also important as they return home and go through the daunting task of rebuilding.鈥�

Pillay said some residents may experience survivor鈥檚 guilt if they did not lose their home but their neighbours did. She encourages community members to lean on each other for support.  

Dozens of Jasper residents lined up outside the townsite before they were allowed to go in at 7 a.m., and hundreds returned home in the first half hour.

People who live in Jasper are being asked to show their Parks Canada-issued resident parking pass and will receive a re-entry guide.

Tourists are not allowed to visit the mountain town yet. Drivers who don't have a resident re-entry guide will be directed to drive through the park on Highway 16 but they can't stop.

'Mixed emotions'

A number of residents 麻豆影视 Edmonton spoke to outside the park gates said they were excited to return home but nervous to see the aftermath of the wildfire.

"I'm very curious to see how things look," Colin Borrow said Friday morning. "We're probably fine but you don't know until you get there."

"Glad to be heading home but worried about what we'll find," David Druyff said. "My house is supposed to be standing but unfortunately my sister's has been destroyed."

"We don't really know what to expect," Steven Harkema said. "It's nice to go back home but at the same time there's a lot of unknowns."

'Going tremendously well'

Jasper's Mayor Richard Ireland said on Friday afternoon the re-entry was going as planned.

"It's going tremendously well. Thank you. I am so relieved, grateful, proud," he told 麻豆影视 Channel.

"When returning residents entered our east entrance to town, they were greeted by our own local fire department, members of the RCMP Parks Canada and municipal people, and it was such a warm welcome that tears of appreciation were shed at that moment."

Ireland said hundreds of people returned to the town on Friday.

"There have been in excess of 500 people who have re-entered. Whether they will stay or not, remains to be seen," he said.

"There will be very many who have no capacity to stay. So I would expect that of those 500 that have entered so far, a large portion of them will be leaving the community again this evening."

Ireland said officials are looking at accommodations for people who lost their homes and want to camp in town with campers or other means.

"We will have to make some more adjustments to ensure that there are proper sanitation facilities and other items available for people who might want to camp on the streets," he said.

"We will certainly make that possible, but that won't be something that is undertaken this evening."

Housing and financial assistance

Jasper residents are now eligible for a second one-time payment from the Red Cross.

Households were previously able to apply for a one-time payment of $750 to help with evacuation needs.

Now that they are returning, they are able to apply for another payment of $500 to help restart their lives.

"This assistance is meant to help folks with ongoing needs such as food, transportation and cleanup supplies," Ric McIver, minister of municipal affairs told reporters on Friday.

"Those who have not been impacted by the Jasper wildfire might consider donating to the Red Cross. The government of Canada and the government of Alberta are matching every dollar donated by Canadians from July 25 to Aug. 24, which means every dollar that you donate becomes three to help people in Jasper."

Evacuees are also eligible for a one-time payment from the provincial government of $1,250 per adult and $500 per child.

Officials also continue to urge Jasper residents to

"Even if your house is in perfect condition and everything's working, we need to know if you have a room or part of your house that could be someone else's temporary residence, or if you don't have that, we need to know that, too, so we can make the best plans possible," McIver said, adding the information will be provided to a joint task force involving the municipal, provincial and federal governments.

"[The joint task force] is actually looking at three different forms of housing, immediate housing from zero to 90 days to get people situated, midterm for that 90 days to six months and beyond. And then beyond that," he said.

McIver said what that housing looks like will vary based on whether it's an individual or a family, and what kind of insurance coverage they have.

"If there's some temporary camp or some type of situation, for some single people in particular, they might find that quite acceptable. Families with several kids probably won't."

"The other things that will make a big difference is whether somebody owned or rented, and whether and how good their insurance coverage is.

"That'll help connect them to the benefits for the insurance policies that they have. Other people will perhaps have none of that, and we will look for ways to assist them, too, along with our friends at the Red Cross."

He says the government will do whatever it can to keep people in the townsite.

"We want to keep people closer to their life's connections, to their children's schools, to their job, because the recovery, the municipality, I don't think It's a straight line," he said.

"You've got to get people in there to have the economy recover. You can't have the economy recover until the people are there."

A telephone town hall will be held on Monday at 6 p.m. to provide residents with more information about the return.

With files from 麻豆影视 Edmonton's Kent Morrison 

According to the province's latest fire bulletin released Wednesday, a fire burning south of Oxford House had prompted an evacuation order of the community.

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The fire is located roughly 10 kilometres south of the community, and is approximately 5,747 hectares.

The bulletin said the south wind could push the fire closer to the community.

Harjit Sajjan, federal Minister of Emergency Preparedness, approved a request from Bunibonibee Cree Nation to help support evacuation of the community.

"The Government Operations Centre is working with federal and provincial partners to coordinate the response to the situation in Manitoba and mobilize all necessary federal resources," Sajjan said in a statement.

Fire departments are on hand to protect infrastructure in the community, while the Red Cross is assisting with the evacuation.

In an email, the Canadian Red Cross said it is supporting the evacuation of Bunibonibee Cree Nation, Tataskweyak Cree Nation and Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation due to the fire. The organization is providing transportation, lodging, food, hygiene kits, formula and diapers to those impacted.

There have been 233 wildfires in Manitoba this year, with 71 currently active.