The techniques used to put out the wildfires that are burning across Canada vary somewhat depending on geography, but ultimately they depend on people on the ground with hoses and shovels digging out hot spots one by one, experts say.
Over the past few days, apocalyptic skies have darkened Tony Wawatie's traditional territory around Barriere Lake. Hundreds of wildfires are scorching Quebec's Abitibi-Témiscamingue region, forcing most of the First Nation's roughly 800 members to evacuate.
The fire prompted more than 16,000 people to be evacuated from their homes in Hammonds Plains, Upper Tantallon and Pockwock, which are suburban communities about 25 kilometres away from Halifax. It destroyed about 200 buildings, including 151 homes.
“This is at least the third year where I've had to wear a respirator,” says Sayward, B.C., resident Shannon Briggs, whose children are growing up in the age of apocalyptic wildfires.
Scientists warn the world is on track for 2.7 C of heating with current action plans and this would mean two billion people experiencing average annual temperatures above 29 C by 2030, a level at which very few communities have lived in the past.
Ever since fighting “The Beast” — a massive system of wildfires that devastated Fort McMurray and swept through northern Alberta in 2016 — Ron Quintal says his “anxiety level goes from zero to 100 in a matter of minutes” at that telltale sign of smoke.
In May, Green Party Leader David Coon tabled the bill with “urgency,” he said, after Premier Blaine Higgs said he would pursue fracked gas development with or without First Nations' consent.
Hazy skies tinged with an eerie yellow glow greeted millions of Canadians in Quebec and Ontario again on Wednesday, June 7, 2023, as the smoke from hundreds of wildfires continued to cause air quality warnings in Canada's most populated corridor.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is showing no interest in compromising with Meta and Google over a proposed law that would make them pay for Canadian journalism that helps tech companies generate revenue.
Irving Oil said on Wednesday, June 7, 2023, that a strategic review of the company is underway and that it is looking at a series of options about its future, including a possible sale of the business.
The battle against hundreds of wildfires continues, as almost every jurisdiction in Canada remains under either heat or air quality warnings from the federal government.