Canadian Wildfire Situation Eases Slightly, But Risk Continues With 400 Wildfires Still Burning

The Canadian Press and CKPGToday are reporting (6-19-23) that as of Monday morning, there are currently 420 wildfires burning in nine provinces and two territories within Canada. Of those 420 wildfires, more than 200 are burning out of control, as the country’s record-setting forest fire season continues to raze thousands of square kilometers daily.

Rain over the weekend helped to ease the fire situation in parts of Alberta and Quebec, but the fire risk remains high in most parts of the country. So far this year more than 58,000 square kilometers (14 million acres) have burned. That is an area twice the size of Vancouver Island.

In British Columbia, the Donnie Creek fire north of Fort St. John is now the largest fire that the province has ever recorded and is still burning out of control more than a month after it started.