Canada faces ‘deeply concerning’ bushfire season: Official

Canada faces its More serious early wildfire season on record, with 211 wildfires burning and 82 classified as out of control, the country’s public safety minister said.

Speaking during a press conference on Thursday, Bill Blair explained that tens of thousands of people were forced to evacuate in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, the Northwest Territories, Manitoba and Ontario, including “many of the indigenous communities.”

In all, he said there were 1,826 fires in the country in 2023, burning 2.7 million hectares (6.7 million acres) of land, equivalent to more than 5 million football fields.

“These conditions, this early in the season, are unprecedented,” he said. “Due to climate change, similar extreme weather events may continue to increase in both frequency and severity across our country.”

Barrington Lake, Shelburne County:

– the fire is still out of control and covers 18,173 hectares (181.7 square kilometers)
– Firefighters include more than 35 Department of Natural and Renewable Resources (DNRR) and more than 40 volunteers/city. pic.twitter.com/Ci98RoRqxp

— Natural and Renewable Resources (@NS_DNRR) June 1, 2023

Blair added: “I would like to acknowledge the incredible human impact these disasters have on Canadians. Many have lost their homes, their livelihoods and, in some cases, their entire communities.”

As he spoke, firefighters continued to battle fires in the eastern province of Nova Scotia, which was also battling the most severe wildfires on record.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the federal government had approved the province’s request for assistance on Wednesday night and the Canadian Armed Forces had been deployed to the area.

“We will continue to make sure Nova Scotians have the support they need,” he said in a tweet.

As of Thursday, the Nova Scotia Department of Natural and Renewable Resources said 16 fires were still burning, the largest near Lake Barrington in Shelburne County. That fire has consumed more than 18,000 hectares (44,480 acres) and is still classified as out of control.

Nova Scotia RCMP Update on #Shelburne County area and #Tantallon area fire response: June 1, 2023 (long thread)… 10/1 pic.twitter.com/jd78oT6aTJ

— RCMP Nova Scotia (@RCMPNS) June 1, 2023

In a tweet, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Nova Scotia said about 40 percent of Shelburne County had been evacuated, with several streets closed amid smoky and low-visibility conditions.

No deaths were immediately reported since the fires broke out in Nova Scotia on Sunday. Provincial authorities said more than 20,000 people had been evacuated.

Officials on Wednesday gave a more promising outlook for a fire burning in the neighboring province of New Brunswick. Roger Collet, a wildfire management officer with the New Brunswick Department of Natural Resources, told local media that the fire was still considered out of control but had become more manageable.

Air quality advisories have been issued throughout the area, and several nearby regions in the northeastern United States are also warning of poor air quality. About 300 firefighters from the US and South Africa will soon join the effort to control the Canadian fires, officials said.

Firefighters also continued to battle blazes in western Canada, where wildfires peaked in the provinces of British Columbia and Alberta during unusually warm temperatures in mid-May.

In a video posted to Facebook, Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation chief Allan Adam said more than 1,000 people had been evacuated from the remote northern Alberta village of Fort Chipewyan as of Wednesday.

“We will stay behind and help protect the community in any way that we can,” he said.

While experts have long attributed extreme weather events in part to climate change, the issue remains politically tense in Canada.

Following her election victory earlier this week, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith of the United Conservative Party (UCP) appealed to supporters oppose “shoulder to shoulder” a series of proposed federal policies that aim to cut carbon emissions 40 to 45 percent by 2030, including through caps on oil and gas emissions.

Alberta produces most of Canada’s oil and is also the country’s most polluting province.