Number of wildfires breach 5,000 mark in current season

Number of wildfires breach 5,000 mark in current season | Insurance Business Canada

Insurance News

Number of wildfires breach 5,000 mark in current season

Year-to-date total of hectares burned revealed

Insurance News

By
Terry Gangcuangco

The Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC) has published year-to-date (YTD) figures for the current wildfire season, revealing that the running total of wildland fires has now breached the 5,000 mark.

Agency

2023 fires

2024 fires (YTD)

2023 area burned in hectares

2024 area burned in hectares (YTD)

British Columbia

1,981

1,561

1,810,238

1,022,607

Yukon

203

143

220,067

162,346

Alberta

908

1,107

2,020,648

706,716

Northwest Territories

277

167

2,968,848

1,581,215

Saskatchewan

385

504

251,969

784,678

Manitoba

280

275

101,272

250,179

Ontario

675

348

346,879

70,469

Quebec

674

443

4,233,931

247,761

Newfoundland and Labrador

21,881

72,420

New Brunswick

197

231

892

187

Nova Scotia

215

24,820

Prince Edward Island

Parks Canada

100

771,821

90,382

Total

5,999

5,008

12,773,275

4,989,008

CIFFC said the total amounts include fires from the 2023 fire season that are still listed as active.

The national wildfire agency went on to report: “Significant mobilization of resources through CIFFC is required to assist operations in the active agencies. Agency priorities need to be considered as a necessary measure to address the demand for shared resources among multiple active agencies. There is a moderate to high probability that drawing down resources from non-active agencies may pose a risk should existing conditions change.”

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