470 'out of control' wildfires burning across Canada: Striking visuals from across the country
CANADA-CLIMATE-WEATHER-FIRE
With over 470 wildfires classified as burning "out of control" in Canada, the 2025 wildfire season is already the second-worst on record. And to make matters worse, climate experts say this could be Canada's "new normal."
'This is our new reality… the warmer it gets, the more fires we see,' Mike Flannigan, the B.C. research chair for predictive services, emergency management and fire science at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops told CBC News.
The latest data posted by the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC) indicates that over 7.3 million hectares of land in the country has burned due to wildfires this year. This number is 78 per cent more than the five-year average of 4.1 million hectares.
More than 470 fires across the country are currently classified as 'out of control', according to the CIFFC.
These numbers surpass the next worst season in 1989, but are behind the record-setting 2023 season, according to a federal database of wildfire seasons dating back to 1972. The last three wildfire seasons are now among the 10 worst on record since Canada started actively tracking them.
The prairie provinces, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, account for more than 60 per cent of the area burned so far.
The Manitoba government extended its regional state of emergency as 14,000 people remain displaced due to intense wildfires as of Aug. 7.
Thirteen communities in north-west Saskatchewan are under an evacuation order, several of which are reportedly First Nations.
Wildfire smoke has been intensifying over parts of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the northern portion of the Avalon Peninsula.
Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Josh Hogan declared a regional state of emergency over the weekend and issued evacuation alerts for various parts of the province.
20,000 people remain poised to flee as a new fire roars south of St. John's, Newfoundland's largest city.
Two fires burning in New Brunswick have also been classified as "out of control" by authorities, with one of the blazes more than doubling in size overnight.
The Miramichi wildfire is currently burning into 6th day, and has nearly tripled in size over the last 24 hours.
British Columbia and Ontario are all also battling raging wildfires across their provinces.
An out-of-control wildfire has forced evacuations within the Vancouver Island community of Port Alberni. At least 300 people have been evacuated so far.
The Mount Underwood wildfire is located to the south of Port Alberni, a city of around 19,000 people.
There are currently 97 active wildfires in B.C.
Fire crews in the City of Kawartha Lakes in Ontario are battling at least four active wildfires as of Tuesday, Ministry of Natural Resources officials said.
Meanwhile, Prince Edward Island is experiencing record-breaking temperatures as a hot, dry spell continues to affect the province.
Several business in Halifax's Bayers Lake Business Park are being asked to evacuate as fire crews battle a rapidly growing wildfire in the area.
Climate change, driven by the burning of fossil fuels, has made Canada's fire season longer and more intense, climate experts maintain.
"We really need to do a lot more to manage our forest, to reduce the impact of climate change and better prepare the communities that are at risk," Anabela Bonada, managing director of climate science at the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation at the University of Waterloo said in an interview with The Canadian Press.
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