Canada Has Its Second-Worst Wildfire Season on Record

Thousands of people in Eastern Canada are under evacuation orders and thousands more have been warned to be on high alert as quick-moving wildfires burn out of control during what has become Canada’s second-worst wildfire season on record.

There are over 700 active fires in Canada, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center, the national firefighting coordinating body, and many large wildfires are occurring in parts of the country where fires typically stay small.

A total of 18.5 million acres of forested land have burned since the beginning of the year, making this the second-worst year on record. The worst year was 2023, when 31.3 million acres had burned by this point in the summer, and 42.5 million acres were scorched by the end of the year.

Fewer acres may have burned this year compared with 2023, said Awa Cissé, a spokeswoman for the center, but the fire season can continue through September or October, she warned.

While parts of Canada experience wildfires each year, this season has been particularly bad because of persistently hot, dry weather. Much of the country is experiencing drought conditions, and the winter snowpack that usually keeps the landscape moist into spring was meager this year in many areas. As a result, the vegetation was parched and ready to burn.

The provinces in the western half of the country, especially Saskatchewan and Manitoba, have seen the most intense wildfires in the country this year, Ms. Cissé said.