Western Canada braces for severe wildfire season

Western Canada is bracing for a severe wildfire season as Environment and Climate Change Canada predicts hotter than average temperatures this summer and early fall, with normal and lower than normal precipitation consistent with effects from the El Niño weather phenomenon.

British Columbia's situation is particularly acute. Ravi Parmar, the province's Minister of Forests, said this year's wildfire season could rival the devastating years of 2017, 2018, and 2021, when over a million hectares burned in each season. "British Columbia is just prone now, these last few years, to having really challenging wildfire seasons," Parmar said. "We're going to be prepared for the worst and hope for the best."

Meghan Fandrich, a writer and editor near Lytton, B.C., was placed under an evacuation alert on June 19 as a wildfire approached her home. Five years after a 2021 blaze that immolated much of her town, the threat of another major fire struck hard. "In my childhood I don't remember any major fires in the area," Fandrich said, "except for one in the mountains that was not burning out of control in the way that they are now." Since 2021, Lytton has experienced devastating wildfires almost every year, with more homes lost in the community each time. The evacuation alert was lifted on June 23 after the wind shifted.

Alberta's fire season has so far been well below the five-year average, thanks to slower snowmelt and higher precipitation over winter that kept potential fuel damp. However, Tanya Letcher, fire behaviour program lead for Alberta's Wildfire Predictive Services unit, expects the province's fire season could last as late as November due to El Niño. Trevor Grant, fire chief for Grande Prairie in northern Alberta, expressed cautious optimism. "This spring, we were fortunate," he said. "I think everybody's in the same boat, of that cautious optimism that we have."

The United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Weather Service predicts a strong El Niño this year. The B.C. Wildfire Service uses predictive models and new technology like wildfire detection cameras to catch fires early, but as temperatures climb and droughts make the land drier, officials expect an increase in the scale and speed of wildfires.