No internet, no phone: Canada wildfires expose fragility of rural infrastructure

A wildfire burns in British Columbia on 11 May 2024 with the northern lights overhead. Photograph: Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship/The Canadian Press via AP

Shortly before sunset on Friday, residents of Canada’s Yukon territory discovered their connection to the outside world had vanished. Internet access had gone. Mobile phones showed no signal. Landlines had failed.

Chaos quickly set in. Electronic payments couldn’t be processed. In Whitehorse, the capital, most ATMs couldn’t function and the few that did were quickly drained of cash from panicked residents. City officials warned that the ability to call police, ambulance or fire services was non-existent.