Federal officials warned wildfires show no sign of slowing in September as they gave an update on this year’s fire season.
As of Sept. 6, there are 1,052 wildfires raging across Canada, with 791 designated as out-of-control. This year, there have been 6,174 fires throughout the country, two of which have exceeded one million hectares, according to numbers released by Natural Resources Canada on Thursday.
In a media teleconference and subsequent news conference held the same day, the Government of Canada reported that wildfires this season have led to 284 evacuation orders, prompting a total of 232,209 Canadian evacuees.
As of Sept. 6, data shows that 16.5 million hectares, or 165,000 square kilometres, have burned this season, with more spreads anticipated.
Michael Martin, director general at Natural Resources Canada, told participants during the teleconference Thursday morning that the worst may not be over.
“In September, the latest projections indicate there is the potential for increased wildland fire activity across central Canada, from eastern Alberta into central Ontario,” he said.
“This is largely in alignment with last month’s forecast, which anticipated that the potential area at extreme risk would include southern B.C., the Prairies, part of Northwest Territories, and western Ontario,” he explained.
Despite the arrival of cooler night temperatures and decreases in lightning activity in the fall, ongoing warm and dry conditions may contribute to new fire starts, he said. Some of the newer fires will continue to be active throughout September, and possibly later into autumn.
According to insights collected from satellite hotspots, wildfires predominantly raged throughout Quebec (with 5.3 million hectares burned), Northwest Territories (3.6 million hectares), Alberta (2.3 million hectares), B.C. (1.9 million hectares) and Nova Scotia (25,000 hectares), with more hectares expected to burn in coming weeks.
At a time when many are calling for a national wildfire fighting force and more aid for evacuees, as well as financial help to rebuild, Harjit Sajjan, president of the King’s Privy Council for Canada and minister of emergency preparedness, spoke about previously announced funding, providing cursory detail about recently greenlit programs.
“The last few weeks have been extremely difficult for Canadians. Community members have been forced to leave their homes, not knowing if their homes will still be there when they return,” he said at the Ottawa-based press conference on Thursday afternoon.
“Thankfully in Yellowknife, thousands of people are beginning to return home after three long weeks. We continue to mobilize resources across the country and we will be there throughout the recovery.”
Earlier this summer, the government announced the Fighting and Managing Wildfires and Changing Climate Program, a training fund of $28 million over five years, which aims to finance 1,000 community based firefighters and incorporate Indigenous knowledge in fire management, according to the Government of Canada.
Sajjan mentioned that, in recent days, 10 new pilot projects have been signed under this program, including the training of 160 new firefighters and 61 new firefighters deployed in Indigenous communities throughout Canada.
The program also includes an equipment fund amounting to $256 million over five years, financing firefighting tools such as pumps, hose, chainsaws and communication technology such as radios, cameras and drones.
The press conference also detailed federal investments in wildland fires, approximating $169.9 million over 11 years. This will include a wildfire satellite monitoring system, and larger educational initiatives in wildfire mitigation and prevention measures.
“This funding has been and will continue to support and strengthen these provincial and territorial governments’ fire management capabilities, and will allow them to procure the resources they need to fight wildfires on the scale and the severity we have seen this year going forward,” Sajjan said.
He added that recent agreements have been made to provide a $32 million to B.C. and a $28 million to the North west Territories over the next five years as they recover from the devastation of recent fire events.
“Even when the fires stop burning we will be there to support all Canadians.”
As of early September, 4,714 firefighting personnel has been deployed, the Government of Canada reports.