What we know about the wildfires burning in Canada and sending smoke to the U.S. and U.K.
High winds coupled with a warm, dry spring are fuelling a wave of forest fires across western Canada and parts of Ontario.
More than 200 fires were reported across the country as of Tuesday morning, half of which are labelled out of control.
Wildfires have already burned close to 2.2 million hectares this year, equivalent to the size of about 4 million football fields. At about seven times its ten-year average, the burn area is unusually large for this time of year.
Communities in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba have also been shrouded in smoke, and air quality alerts have been issued across the provinces and bordering U.S. states.
With summer still weeks away, this year's fire season is running far ahead of schedule. Here's what you should know.
Smoke from Canadian wildfires has crossed the Atlantic Ocean and is blowing over the U.K.
Manitoba wildfires: Thousands told to flee in Saskatchewan, hotels open up for evacuees in Winnipeg
The worst blazes have occurred in the prairie provinces, leading led Saskatchewan and Manitoba to declare province-wide emergencies in late May.
Saskatchewan
The Shoe fire in Saskatchewan's Narrow Hills Provincial Park has scorched more than 400,000 hectares — roughly 18 times the size of the city of Saskatoon — and is threatening 11 communities.
To the north, a 83,000 hectare fire in La Ronge, Sask, forced several neighbouring communities to evacuate. On Monday , the fire had crossed into the town's airport.
The evacuation also included 45 acute and long-term care patients from the care homes and a health centre in La Rouge, the Saskatchewan Health Authority said.
In total, more than 8,000 people, or about 30 communities, have been ordered to evacuate so far. There are 18 fires across the province, around half of which are uncontained.
It's already shaping up to be the worst wildfire season Saskatchewan has seen in recent memory.
Manitoba
In Manitoba, more than 17,000 residents, including 5,000 people from Flin Flon, a mining city located near the Saskatchewan border, were forced to evacuate from their homes. The smoke has been too thick for water bombers to reach, leaving firefighters struggling to contain the blazes.
Multiple fires beset the First Nations communities of Pimicikamak Cree Nation and Pukatawagan, prompting the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs to make an urgent plea for emergency response on May 30.
The fires made the roads inaccessible stranding close to 4,000 members from both communities. Military planes carried out the evacuations save for a handful of holdouts who have so far refused to leave.
Many of the evacuees have been allowed to carry only one bag with them and are told it might be weeks before they have a chance to return.
The province has 25 fires, 10 of which are out of control.
With accommodations in cities and First Nations communities becoming scarce, evacuees have had to be flown outside the province. Hundreds of Pimicikamak Cree Nation residents have been taken to Niagara Falls, Ont., where hotel rooms are becoming difficult to wrangle.
Many of the evacuees have been allowed to carry only one bag with them and have been told it might be weeks before they have a chance to return.
In mid-May, two people were reported dead in Lac du Bonnet, Man., a little over an hour's drive from Winnipeg, where evacuation orders were in place.
Alberta
Cooler weather mild showers kept fires from escalating overnight in Alberta, but the rest of the week is expected to bring warmer weather. More than 4,500 people have been ordered to leave their homes, including the town of Swan Hills, located northwest of Edmonton. The fires have claimed more than 500,000 hectares, primarily in the province's northwest.
Of the 53 active wildfires in Alberta, 24 are out of control and six are being held, meaning the fire is expected to be contained under given conditions. The province has had 505 wildfires this season.
The province's oil sands sector has also been affected, shutting down about seven per cent of Canada's oil production, or about 350,000 barrels a day, according to Bloomberg.
British Columbia
Nearly all of the wildfires are concentrated in the province's Northeast corner. A third evacuation order has been issued in Prince George as winds in excess off 50 kilometres per hour this week are expected to fan the flames toward the Alberta border. Much of the land is severely drought-stricken, according to Agriculture Canada.
This week, a major clean up response took place after a fire near Summit Lake cut off 160 km of the Alaska highway close to Fort Nelson, B.C. The major arterial roadway, which connects Alaska to the Yukon, was shut down for much of Tuesday. It reopened to a single lane that evening, according to the Drive B.C. website.
Ontario
Several high-risk fires are burning in northern Ontario. Several First Nations communities have been evacuated since May and two have declared states of emergencies.
Wabaseemoong Independent Nations, located west of Kenora, were placed under evacuation orders in mid-May. Fires started near the Manitoba border and have since scorched more than 36,000 hectares.
Evacuations for Webequie First Nation, in Nipigon, where the fires have blackened 8,000 hectares, were carried out last week, and more than 400 members relocated. Deer Lake First Nation was also being evacuated this week, with 1,300 members needing relocation.
A majority of the fires have been man-made, as is typical for this time of year.
Of the 111 total wildfires in Manitoba this season, 100 are believed to be human-caused while six are under investigation and another five are believed natural.
Over the weekend, Saskatchewan premier Scott Moe estimated that people were to blame for 90 per cent of fires in the province. Man made fires entail anything from burns that spread out of control, campfires that were left unattended, discarded cigarettes or, as in some cases, an act of malice.
Lightning becomes the primary driver starting in June, and these fires are usually the most devastating. During 2023's record-breaking fire season, lightning accounted for 93 per cent of the area burned.
Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Manitoba are seeing larger fires at this point in the year than their five-year average.
In Central Canada, a combination of weather conditions — including warm temperatures, drought and lack of humidity — made fires more prone to spread.
Manitoba exceeded average temperatures by double digits in the spring. Parts of Saskatchewan where fires are active were also several degrees warmer than average. Alberta also experienced a warm spring and is braced for heatwaves leading into summer.
Current models forecast Central Canada will remain dry and hot throughout the summer.
Fires have also been whipped up by strong winds and a lack of meaningful rains, conditions which are set to persist in much of the fire-stricken until later this week.
Hundreds of communities are under Environment Canada's air quality warnings. The severity of smoke in any particular area can depend on factors such as wind direction, speed and fire proximity, according to the agency.
A large part of southern and central Manitoba has been blanketed with hazardous levels of smoke. Advisories have also been issued for communities in northern Alberta, northern Saskatchewan and north western Ontario.
Smoke caused by the wildfires has extended from the Midwest states into the plains and even as far southeast as Georgia. Minnesota, in particular, was placed under a statewide advisory, while multiple bordering states have advised their people to reduce exposure by staying inside as much as possible and keeping doors and windows shut.
Health authorities are recommending the use of air filters at home or for going to locations with filtered air, such as libraries or malls.
U.K. skies were also covered in a dull haze this week as smoke apparently carried across the Atlantic. Fumes also blew over into the Northern Europe, the Mediterranean and Greece a little over two weeks ago, with more expected in the coming weeks, according to the climate monitoring service Copernicus. The haze is hovering at high altitudes and poses no health risks, experts say, but has obscured the sun in an orangish haze.
Wildfires release small particles in the air that are more harmful than regular air pollution. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency map shows moderate to severe concentrations of particles known as PM2.5 and ozone levels, in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa.
These particles are used as a measure of air quality, with moderate levels affecting sensitive groups and more severe levels causing severe discomfort and even death. Young people, the elderly and those with heart and lung conditions are particularly at risk. At unhealthy levels, studies show an increase in stroke, heart attack and lung cancer among those who inhale wildfire smoke.
'Ground-level ozone and PM2.5 cause respiratory and cardiovascular problems and lead to tens of thousands of premature deaths, with costs of more than $100 billion, each year,' guidelines from the NOAA states.
Wildfire smoke contributes to nearly 18,000 deaths a year, according to the Lung Health Foundation. It recommends keeping an emergency kit, filtering indoor air and checking carbon monoxide monitors to stay protected. At severe levels, the use of an air conditioner is not recommended. Instead, it is advised to check local governments for nearby cooling locations.
Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
UPI
a day ago
- UPI
Damaging, disruptive storms to target NYC, Philly and DC
Storm clouds move in behind One World Trade Center and the Manhattan skyline in New York City on Thursday. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo The same setup that brought close to 300 wind damage incidents and a dozen reports of tornadoes in the Midwest on Wednesday will focus on the Atlantic Seaboard from Quebec to the Carolinas into Thursday night, AccuWeather meteorologists warn. High humidity levels combined with a ripple in the jet stream will unleash one or more lines of thunderstorms that will progress from the Appalachians and Piedmont areas toward the Atlantic coast from Thursday afternoon to Thursday night. "As the storms approach the airports at the major metro areas from New York City to Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., airline delays and ground stops will increase dramatically. Some flights may even be cancelled," AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter stated. "Such delays and cancellations at these major airports have a tendency to spread quickly elsewhere in the United States air system because planes and crews are not where they need to be based on the existing schedule, resulting in cascading delays and cancellations." Motorists should be prepared for high water and sudden poor visibility as the storms approach. Roads that tend to flood during downpours should be avoided. Powerful wind gusts in many of the storms will average 60-70 mph. Due to the saturated ground in some areas, strong wind gusts during storms can easily push over trees or break off rotting limbs, leading to power outages. There will be an elevated risk of tornadoes in an area from upstate New York and northwestern New England to parts of central and eastern Quebec. This includes the major Canadian metro areas of Quebec City and Montreal, as well as Burlington, Vermont Albany, New York Pittsfield, Massachusetts and Lebanon, New Hampshire in the northeastern United States. A small number of the storms can also bring pea- to marble-sized hail, which, when combined with strong winds and torrential downpours, can damage crops in fields, plants in backyard gardens and other vegetation. As the storms creep along, flash flooding along small streams and urban areas can occur. Two or three storms may blast some locations into Thursday evening. Storms in the metro areas of Richmond and Norfolk, Virginia, as well as Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina, may be somewhat more widely separated but can still be severe in some neighborhoods and lead to damage and travel disruptions into Thursday evening. Some thunderstorms and severe weather are also anticipated from South Carolina to Georgia, Florida and Alabama. However, a few storms in these areas can still pack a punch at the local level with brief wind gusts, torrential rain and a sudden cluster of lightning strikes. As a massive dome of heat builds from this weekend to next week, rounds of severe thunderstorms will erupt on the northern edge from the Midwest to parts of the Northeast.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
In the news today: Canadians facing extreme weather, major projects bill on track
Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed... Extreme weather affected 1 in 4 people: poll Almost one in four Canadians were directly affected by extreme weather events over the past year, a new poll suggests. The Leger poll — released as Canada copes with its second-worst wildfire season on record — says 23 per cent of Canadians who responded said they were personally affected by extreme weather events like heat waves, floods, fires and tornadoes over the last 12 months. Among those who said they had felt the impacts of extreme weather, almost two-thirds reported being forced to stay indoors because of air quality concerns, while 39 per cent reported suffering emotional stress. Twenty-seven per cent of those who reported experiencing extreme weather said they had to postpone travel plans, while one-fifth said they suffered property damage. CO2 budget for 1.5 C could be exhausted in 3 years The world is on pace to emit enough greenhouse gas emissions over the next three years to blow by an international target to limit global warming to 1.5 C, according to a new study co-authored by a Canadian researcher who says the finding underlines the need for urgent transformational change. The study by more than 60 scientists says the 1.5-degree carbon budget – how much CO2 can be released while staying below that limit – sits at about 130 billion tonnes as of the start of 2025. At current levels, that budget would be exhausted in a little more than three years, the report said. Within the next decade, the budgets for 1.6 and 1.7 degree warming thresholds are at risk too, the report found. Concordia University professor Damon Matthews said "every increment matters" in the effort to avoid increasingly severe climate impacts, from thawing permafrost to raging wildfires. Major projects bill on track to soon clear House Running roughshod over the environment. Spawning the next Idle No More movement. Picking economic winners and losers. Prime Minister Mark Carney's Building Canada Act is anything if not a magnet for criticism. The Liberal government's controversial legislation that would let cabinet quickly grant federal approvals for big industrial projects like mines, ports and pipelines sailed through committee in the early hours of Thursday. A House of Commons panel sat from Wednesday afternoon to after midnight reviewing Bill C-5 in a hurried study, as the Liberal government seeks to pass it through the chamber by week's end. Disabilities groups ask Liberals to amend tax bill Advocacy groups are asking the federal Liberal government to adjust its proposed tax bill to ensure people with disabilities don't end up paying more to the Canada Revenue Agency. Inclusion Canada says it favours Ottawa lowering the lowest marginal tax rate from 15 to 14 per cent, as proposed in the bill that passed first reading earlier this month. However, the group says the unintended result of the change is that tax credits for people with disabilities will decrease in many cases. That's because the credit — used to reduce taxes payable — is generated by a formula that is tied to the marginal tax rate, and by dropping that rate to 14 per cent, the credit shrinks. Affordability challenges plaguing renters: report A new report suggests Canadian renters continue to face affordability challenges even as asking rent prices have fallen this year, while those considering the leap to home ownership are taking a wait-and-see approach. Royal LePage's 2025 Canadian renters report, which includes results from a survey conducted by Burson, found 37 per cent of renters in Canada spend between 31 and 50 per cent of their net income on monthly rent costs. The survey of more than 1,800 renters in early June indicated that 15 per cent of respondents were spending more than half of their income on rent, while 37 per cent were spending 30 per cent or less. Rents have eased for eight consecutive months, but remain well above historical norms, according to the report. Families fear memories of Air India bombing fading Rob Alexander's father wasn't supposed to be on Air India Flight 182 on June 23, 1985. "My mother had actually booked him on an Air France flight to go see his mother in India," recalled Alexander, who was in his teens at the time. "One of the guys that we knew, he worked for Air India and he wanted to sell my father a ticket very badly to get the commission or something. "Eventually, he agreed." Alexander recalled the small argument that ensued between his father and mother, and how she had to cancel his Air France ticket. An Ontario surgeon, Dr. Anchanatt Mathew Alexander boarded the flight in Toronto on the evening of June 22. Early the next morning, about 200 kilometres off the Irish coast, a bomb exploded, sending the Boeing 747 plunging 31,000 feet into the ocean and killing all 329 passengers and crew. The majority were Canadians. --- This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 19, 2025 The Canadian Press
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Trump Is Still Moaning About Weather Forecasters After Flop Parade
President Donald Trump has once again rebuked weather forecasters for predicting rain on his birthday military parade, raising the issue at the G7 Leaders' Summit in Canada. During a photo opportunity with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and his wife, Trump brought up the parade forecast. 'We had the parade the other day. They said 100 percent chance of rain. It didn't rain,' Trump told Carney as the Canadian prime minister smiled politely. Saturday's parade—expected to cost up to $45 million, according to conservative estimates—was meant to celebrate the 250th birthday of the Army, but it also coincided with Trump's 79th birthday, sparking criticism that the president was hijacking the event. In the leadup to the parade, the National Weather Service had predicted rain—and possibly thunderstorms—in Washington, D.C., just as the tanks and troops rolled in. However, in the end, there was only a slight drizzle, summer mugginess, and, according to some attendees, low energy. The G7 summit was not the first time Trump railed against the parade's weather forecast, which limited turnout. On his way to Canada on Sunday, he described the night as 'a tremendous success with a fantastic audience,' adding, 'It was supposed to rain. They gave it a 100% chance of rain, and it didn't rain at all. It was beautiful.' While the administration has been at pains to portray the event as a 'tremendous success,' footage showed sparse crowds, with the overall size far fewer than the 'No Kings' protests that also took place across the country that day. At one point, Secretary of State Marco Rubio was caught on camera yawning and looking bored as he sat in the viewing stand near the president, with one arm casually draped over a chair. Social media also lit up with photos of First Lady Melania Trump resting her eyes at various intervals, while Trump's eldest and favorite daughter, Ivanka, and her husband, Jared Kushner, were no-shows. White House Communications Director Steven Cheung also talked up the event, only to be ridiculed on social media for seemingly inflating the crowd size. 'Amazing. Despite the threat of rain, over 250,000 patriots showed up to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the @USArmy,' Cheung posted to X on Saturday night. 'God Bless the USA!' By comparison, data journalist G. Elliot Morris estimated that 4 million to 6 million people joined the nationwide demonstrations against the Trump administration, making it one of the largest protests in U.S. history. Trump had long dreamed of holding a parade showcasing America's military might, and this one featured a steady stream of Abrams battle tanks, a fleet of armored Stryker and Bradley fighting vehicles, a flock of artillery launchers, as well as Black Hawk, Apache, and Chinook helicopters. Cleanup crews have spent the past few days returning the nation's capital to normalcy, but Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said it may take another few days for the city to assess road damage. 'We will evaluate with the utility companies any issues that we are aware of,' she said. 'If we have to make any repairs, we would submit that as part of the reimbursement process for national security events.' She added that she had watched the parade after a day at Chuck E. Cheese celebrating a child's birthday party and was thrilled to see the Army Golden Knights parachute team display the D.C. flag as they parachuted down. 'I was very happy,' said the Democratic mayor, who has gone out of her way to stay on Trump's good side this year. 'I thought it was a nice touch.'
