Leaf Rapids lodge owner relieved after wildfire misses property
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CTV News
12 minutes ago
- CTV News
France's largest wildfire in decades leaves a trail of devastation
VILLEROUGE LA CREMADE, France — France's largest wildfire in decades continued to burn and spread Thursday, though at a slower pace, after having already ravaged more than 160 square kilometres (62 square miles) in the south of the country and claiming one life, local authorities said. The blaze, which started Tuesday and tore through the Corbières massif in the Aude region, has remained uncontained despite the deployment of over 2,100 firefighters and several water bomber aircraft. The fire's rapid spread was fueled by weeks of hot, dry weather, though cooler temperatures and calmer winds overnight helped slightly ease the situation. 'The battle continues, we have a fire that is not yet under control,' region administrator Christian Pouget told broadcaster BFMTV. The fire has swept through 15 communes in the Corbières massif, destroying or damaging at least 36 homes, with a full damage assessment still underway. One person died in their home, and at least 13 others were injured, including 11 firefighters, according to local authorities. Three people were reported missing, the Aude prefecture added. An investigation is ongoing to determine the cause of the fire, which has left a blackened landscape of skeletal trees and ash. 'It's very sad to think about the image we're going to give of our Corbières region, with its devastated landscapes and desperate women and men, not just today or tomorrow, but for weeks and months to come. It will take years to rebuild,' said Xavier de Volontat, the mayor of Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse, speaking to BFMTV. Meanwhile, residents and tourists in nearby areas have been asked to remain in their homes unless told to evacuate. Those who had already fled the flames were sheltered overnight in temporary accommodation centers in 17 municipalities. The fire, which began in the village of Ribaute, is the most significant France has faced since 1949, according to Agnès Pannier-Runacher, France's minister for ecological transition. 'The night was cooler, so the fire is spreading more slowly, but it remains the most significant fire France has seen since 1949,' she told France Info radio. 'It is a fire that is clearly a consequence of climate change and drought in this region.' This week's fire was the biggest since the creation of a national fire database in 2006, according to the national emergency service. Southern Europe has seen multiple large fires this summer. Scientists warn that climate change is exacerbating the frequency and intensity of heat and dryness, making the region more vulnerable to wildfires. Last month, a wildfire that reached the southern port of Marseille, France's second-largest city, left around 300 people injured. Europe is the world's fastest-warming continent, with temperatures increasing at twice the speed of the global average since the 1980s, according to the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service. ___ Hernan Munoz And Samuel Petrequin, The Associated Press Petrequin reported from Paris.
CBC
43 minutes ago
- CBC
N.S. crops withering in dry conditions, hitting farmers in the pocketbook
Allesondra Roddick usually has an abundance of produce that Nova Scotians like to serve at their tables: yellow beans, tomatoes, peppers, rhubarb, cucumbers and more. But this season, the Pictou County farmer says many of her crops are simply not producing anything at all due to the extremely dry conditions. The co-owner of My Grandfather's Farm in Westville, N.S., said the irrigation pond the farm normally relies on has barely more than a centimetre of water in it. By comparison, when it's full, she can swim in it, she said. They had also used a well to water their orchard about once a week since July 1, Roddick said. "But it dried up about two weeks ago. So really, lots of stuff hasn't had a drop of water in about a month now." That's costing her thousands of dollars in lost sales, she said, to the point her partner has had to take a job outside the farm to help sustain the family. And they're not alone. Many farmers in the province are struggling to deal with the lack of significant rainfall and its impact on their livelihood. Trevor Hadwen, a specialist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, says Nova Scotia is experiencing moderate drought conditions, with some pockets in the central region enduring severe drought conditions. The conditions are so dry that the province has put in place bans on open fires and hiking and the use of vehicles in woods out of concern for wildfires. Hadwen said Nova Scotia has seen droughts in the past, citing the summer months of 2023, 2020 and 2016, so he would not call this prolonged stretch of dry weather unprecedented. But he said it is still putting farmers in a difficult position. Alicia King, president of the Nova Scotia Federation of Agriculture, said while the organization doesn't have exact numbers on the losses farmers are incurring due to the conditions, she is very concerned about what she is hearing from them. "I think we're safe to say most of the farmers that are around the province today, this is probably one of the first times that they've experienced drought quite like we're seeing it today." Irrigation systems are the only thing keeping some farmers' crops alive, King said, but not everyone can rely on that since water sources are drying up. King said many farmers are losing money and she hopes people continue to support them as much as possible during this challenging time. "We always hear those words, like farmers are resilient, we can bounce back, we'll try it again next year, and all of those sayings," she said. "But those, those get hard on the heart, one might say, after a little bit."
CBC
2 hours ago
- CBC
Some eastern Ontario regions asked to save water amid near-drought
Some eastern Ontario conservation authorities are encouraging residents to use less water as parts of the region experience drought-like conditions. Agriculture Canada monitors drought conditions across the country, ranking their severity on a scale of zero to four. According to the latest data from June 30, some parts of eastern Ontario are in a level zero drought, which is considered "abnormally dry." The drought-like conditions can be attributed to a lack of thunderstorms and low pressure systems tracking northward, according to Crawford Luke, a meteorologist with Environment Canada. "It's kind of resulting in this area of lower than normal precipitation amounts across much of eastern Ontario," he told CBC. That includes an area from Ottawa all the way down to the Saint Lawrence River, he said, with some areas only receiving half the average rainfall for this time of year. It's not looking like the dry spell will end soon either, with the latest seven-day forecast from Environment Canada predicting daily highs into the 30s and only a small chance of showers. Low water advisories The persistent heat and low precipitation levels have led some conservation authorities to issue low water advisories. South Nation Conservation issued a "level one" or minor low water advisory on Aug. 1 across its jurisdiction, recommending residents reduce water use by 10 per cent. The authority manages the South Nation River watershed that flows from the headwaters north of Brockville to the Ottawa River. "It's the first indication that there could be concerns with water supply," said Kat Watson, coordinator of early warning systems and watershed plans with South Nation Conservation. Watson said people should limit non-essential water use, like watering gardens or using pressure washers. The Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority — which manages the watersheds of the Mississippi, Carp and Ottawa rivers — has also raised water concerns. It issued a minor low water advisory for the Carp River as of July. 31. On Wednesday afternoon, it was raised to a "level two" or moderate low water advisory. Kathryn Starratt, a water resources specialist with the authority, said the moderate advisory "indicates a potentially serious problem." The authority is encouraging residents to use less water and restrict non-essential use but Starratt says it is up to municipalities to enforce conservation or place limits on water use. Carleton Place is under a water demand status that asks residents to conserve water to ensure the town's water distribution system can continue to meet demand in the hot and dry weather. While there's currently no low water advisory in place for the Mississippi River, Sally McIntyre, the general manager of the Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority, says water levels on the river are below average. "We haven't reached any sort of extreme level yet because on this river we actually have reservoirs upstream and we're able to supplement flow during drought conditions," she said. "We're being very judicious in how we're releasing that water so that we're able to achieve target flows on the lower Mississippi [but], if we're not able to achieve target levels, we will have to move through that progression of level one, level two, level three drought."
