Wildfire threatens Squamish, B.C., as Environment Canada warns of more fires this summer

Globe and Mail

a day ago

Federal officials are warning that prolonged heat waves and lower-than-normal precipitation are expected to create conditions ripe for wildfires this summer, with hundreds already burning from Northwestern Ontario to British Columbia.
A new wildfire this week has threatened Squamish, B.C. – often called Canada's outdoor recreation capital – adding to more than 225 wildfires across the country, at least 102 of which are deemed out of control.
On Tuesday, researchers from Environment and Climate Change Canada, presenting a seasonal outlook together with Health Canada, said wildfires are likely to worsen over the next three months because of dryness and warmer-than-normal temperatures.
Forecasts show above-average risk for fires, especially later in the summer and particularly for western provinces.
'Going into the summer, Canada was already experiencing a severe, early wildfire season,' research scientist Bill Merryfield told reporters, noting that the area that has burned so far in 2025 is triple the 10-year average for this point in the year. He said the country is warming at nearly twice the global rate, increasing on average by 1.8 degrees since 1948, and even more in its northernmost region.
Environment Canada meteorologist Jennifer Smith said much of Alberta and British Columbia is predicted to see below-normal levels of precipitation, as are parts of Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
Fumes from the fires have the potential to be carried far and wide by winds toward cities well outside of wildfire zones, Ms. Smith said. 'Smoke can travel thousands of kilometres, turning skies hazy, making the sun more orange or, more seriously, leading to poor air quality right where you live.'
Over the past two weeks, more than 40,000 people have been displaced in hundreds of Canadian communities – with Manitoba and Saskatchewan hardest hit, each under a provincewide state of emergency, and dozens of other fires in Alberta.
This week, the situation has worsened in Ontario and British Columbia.
Wildfire smoke is affecting air quality across the country. Here's what you need to know
In B.C., the District of Squamish declared a localized state of emergency Tuesday, as officials contended with a fire discovered near Dryden Creek Monday, east of the Sea-to-Sky Highway. Evacuation alerts were issued for some properties, while firefighters attacked the blaze by air and with ground crews.
The fire reached at least five hectares by late Tuesday afternoon.
Squamish resident Ben Hughes was driving Monday when he first saw billowing smoke and flickers of flames in the hills ahead. By the time he emerged from his appointment in the area an hour later, firefighters were there.
'We have had some forest fires nearby before, but this was the first time that you could really see it,' Mr. Hughes said Tuesday. 'If the wind picks up, it could just blow it up over that ridge and it could be in the neighbourhood, consuming houses.'
B.C. is calling back a majority of its firefighters who were deployed to other areas, as it anticipates increased fire activity. At least 86 wildfires were active in the province.
In Ontario, Premier Doug Ford has called upon the Canadian Armed Forces to airlift nearly 3,000 people from Sandy Lake First Nation, a remote community just under 450 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg.
As of Tuesday afternoon, at least 1,400 people had been evacuated from the area, while more than 20 wildfires burned in Northern Ontario.
In Manitoba, nearly 21,000 have been forced to flee their homes, as the province continues to grapple with 25 large wildfires.
Wildfire smoke map: Which parts of Canada are under air quality warnings?
One fire near Nopiming Provincial Park measures 218,700 hectares, or roughly five times the size of Winnipeg, officials noted Tuesday, while another fire near Flin Flon, Man., is 307,780 hectares, or about seven times Winnipeg's size.
Lisa Naylor, Manitoba's minister in charge of emergency management, is imploring all travellers within and from outside the province to reconsider any non-essential travel, as the government requires more hotel rooms for wildfire evacuees.
Environment Canada scientist Megan Kirchmeier-Young said wildfire seasons are becoming longer, beginning earlier and ending later than in previous years.
'Warming temperatures from human-caused climate change exacerbate the wildfire risk,' she said.
Dr. Kirchmeier-Young asserted that while many fires may be started by humans, 'the largest fires and the most area burned come from lightning-ignited fires.'
But Steve Roberts, vice-president of operations for the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency, disagreed with Environment Canada. Of the 257 fires in the province this year, fewer than 30 of them were caused by lightning, he said at a fire briefing.
Saskatchewan ombudswoman Sharon Pratchler criticized the province's response for evacuees. She said Premier Scott Moe's government is failing to provide immediate food and shelter, telling reporters at a separate news conference that evacuees have been living in cars, tents and parking lots.
Saskatchewan is fighting 22 fires, with at least 12,000 people displaced.
Marlo Pritchard, Saskatchewan's fire commissioner and public-safety agency president, acknowledged at the fire briefing that there is 'a backlog' for supports, but said the province is doing its best. 'We have brought in extra resources to deal with that.'
About 7,000 people in and around La Ronge, Sask., will be permitted to return home Thursday after an evacuation order is lifted, the province said late Tuesday.
Meanwhile, in Alberta, there were at least 60 smaller wildfires, and some evacuations were lifted in communities where conditions had improved.
Still, Alberta officials expect larger fires soon, with 96 firefighters deployed there from Australia Tuesday – and two wildfires near the northern Peerless Trout and Chipewyan Lakes First Nations merging and likely to grow over the next few days.
With reports from Andrea Woo in Vancouver and Willow Fiddler in Sioux Lookout, Ont.