The terrible drought has already brought the first big fires

Dozens of forest ones fires broke out in the west Canada in recent days, marking the start of the extremely dangerous season in the region, which is hit by a terrible drought, which increases the concern of the authorities ahead of the potentially “disastrous” summer.

In the Pacific province of British Columbia, firefighters have been mobilized specifically in the central Cariboo region, where a man-made fire spread very quickly over the weekend and is currently described as “out of control”.

The Burgess Creek fire, which has already consumed 16,000 hectares of vegetation, is “very revealing of the conditions ahead of us”, Madison Dahl, of the provincial fire service, told AFP ahead of the extremely dangerous season.

“We are faced with incredible drought“, he added.

At the moment, the fire does not threaten any building structure, however, a warning has been issued in view of the possible hasty evacuation of residents: citizens have been asked to be ready to leave.

In total, more than 110 fires are active in the province, some of which started long ago, last year, but have never been extinguished.

In the neighboring province of Alberta, 66 fires are active, of which also “36 had occurred in the 2023 period,” said Melissa Storey of the province’s wildfire management.

In addition, several fires are burning in the Fort McMurray region, in the northwestern part of the province, prompting the authorities to give orders for the urgent evacuation of residents.

This city, in the middle of a boreal forest, known for its tar sands, had suffered enormous damage due to a fire in May 2016. Its almost 90,000 inhabitants had been forced to leave it hastily.

This fire ranks as the worst disaster in Canadian history: it destroyed 2,500 buildings and caused damage worth almost 10 billion Canadian dollars (6.8 billion euros at the current exchange rate).

According to the Canadian government, “extreme drought conditions” of “very concern” persist, mainly affecting areas of the Canadian West.

In 2023, Canada experienced the worst fire season in its history. The fires, which swept across the country, burned more than 150 million hectares, claimed the lives of eight firefighters and firefighters and forced the authorities to hastily evacuate some 230,000 people from their homes.

On April 10 the authorities, fearing another “disastrous” summer as the winter was marked by a lack of snowfall, made it clear they were “preparing for the worst”.