Canadian officials have warned that the country faces a “long, tough summer” of wildfires as the current season shatters previous records and forecasts predict even hotter temperatures to come.
Federal data showed that on Friday more than 9m hectares (22.2m acres) of the country had burned, shattering a 34-year record.
“This number is literally off the charts, with at least three more months left in the active wildfire season,” Michael Norton, director general of the Northern Forestry Centre, Canadian Forest Service, told reporters late on Thursday. “It’s no understatement to say that the 2023 fire season is and will continue to be record-breaking in a number of ways.”
Previously, the worst fire season on record was in 1989, when 7.8m hectares burned.
More than 155,000 people have been forced from their homes, the highest figure in 40 years, with more than 4,500 evacuees across Canada – the majority of whom are First Nations.
Nearly 3,800 provincial firefighters are on the ground, with aid from the Canadian Armed Forces. But the unseasonably warm temperatures across the country – including in regions unaccustomed to out of control blazes – has also necessitated what officials called an “unprecedented level of international support”.
Nearly 1,800 personnel from 11 countries have arrived to help quell the blazes, with fire crews from South Korea recently landing. In recent days, Canada signed a wildfire assistance agreement with Portugal, similar to a deal struck with the US in late June. Since the fire season began, 3,258 firefighters from across the world have helped.
“The firefighting effort has now truly become a global effort,” said Norton.
Not only are this fires larger than usual, they are also abnormally numerous.
This season has seen 20% more fires than the decade average – and that number is expected to rise in the coming months, said Norton.
As of late Thursday there were 143 blazes still burning in Quebec and 109 in Alberta. 100 fires were still active British Columbia, including the Donnie Creek fire, which has grown to become the province’s largest ever fire at 571,000 hectares.
In recent days, many regions of the country had a glimpse of the intense heat that could arrive in the coming months, with warnings in Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec. Earlier this week, Kuujjuaq in northern Quebec hit nearly 34C (93F) – hotter than Miami.
“Drought is a major contributing factor affecting parts of all provinces and territories, intensifying in some regions,” he said. “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.”
Officials say more than 17,000 pieces of equipment have moved between provinces and territories, to help fight fires but also to aid with airlifts of evacuees.
“While there is serious fire risk in several parts of the country, I want to assure Canadians that there are sufficient resources to respond and to keep Canadians safe,” the emergency preparedness minister, Bill Blair, told reporters.
But officials also cautioned that wildfire smoke, which has blanketed major Canadian and US cities, poses a signifiant health risk.
“It’s really the fine particles, the ones that are very small and not visible to the human eye that get deep into our lungs and bloodstream – those are the ones we’re most concerned with in terms of health risk,” Marie-Eve Héroux, manager of air quality assessment for Health Canada, told reporters. She said the smoke, which made Toronto’s air some of the worst in the world last week, is comprised of gases, particles and water vapour that can cause chest pains, coughs and shortness of breath.
Norton said that while fire suppression efforts typically cost $C1bn annually, this year will probably set a new record.
“The total cost of wildfires to the economy and society is a much bigger question,” he said.
