The annual destructive occurrence, with insight from David Phillips, Senior Climatologist for Environment Canada.
The first distinct memory I have of the increasing forest fires in Canada is from the summer of 2021. Granted, I only really experienced the residue that seeped into Vancouver, but nonetheless, we got a lot of the backlash of what was going on in the interior.
I remember it being so smoky that we were advised to stay inside because of the health risk. When I did go for walks around my neighbourhood, or when we drove out to Steveston, the smoke from the wildfires just hung in the air in a nauseatingly persistent sort of way. The sun was fiery orange and red: it was apocalyptic.
“Very few people see the fires […], but millions see the smoke,” said David Phillips, Senior Climatologist at Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC).
I went into writing this piece knowing nothing about The Canadian Boreal Forest, but quickly learned from David Phillips that it is, “the most dominant forest belt in the world.”
“5 per cent of our precious boreal forest was consumed last year, 2023, from Quebec and Nova Scotia across the West,” he explained.
While that 5 per cent doesn’t seem like a lot, looking at the bigger picture, it is, especially when taking into consideration that in Western Canada, the boreal forests have adapted to be able to burn every few centuries — but not this much, and not on a yearly basis.
“It is a serious loss. It’s a very important resource to our country,” said Phillips.
Forest fires during the summer months have become much more intense and long-lasting than they used to be. Phillips goes on to mention how forest fires used to be common during the summer only, but have now spread throughout the year: “Forest fires used to be a summer problem; June, July, August… but now it’s become almost a year round situation,” with a lot of the fires even burning into the winter, explained Phillips.
“[British Columbia] has probably got the largest expenditure by a province in terms of fighting fires,” Philips said.
This shouldn’t be surprising, given the vast forested areas. This year, B.C. saw forest fires as early as April, and last years’ fires were the most destructive in B.C. ‘s recorded history.
Quebec also had an early start to the fires this year, the first being recorded in May, with the Southern parts of the province burning faster over the month of June than in the last 20 years combined.
Last year was a big year for forest fires, and according to The New York Times, they burned an area equivalent to the Netherlands.
“Four provinces [British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Quebec] had their greatest loss in history because of the fires last year,” said Phillips.
One of the greatest losses for Canada this year would have to be UNESCO heritage site Jasper. “The thing that is just really concerning is that they had practiced Fire Smart in Jasper, they knew from years that this was potentially a real hot spot,” said Phillips.
Every year, the fires eat up one of Canada’s greatest resources, and Phillips emphasized that it is turning into a health, environment, and resource issue.
“The boreal forest is a great source of carbon. It’s stored in the trees and the landscape and the soil, and forest fires, when they burn, they release that to the atmosphere, which is a concern to Canada,” he said.
And there isn’t much we can do about them once they light up.
“Fighting [them] is a joke. It’s like spitting on a campfire trying to put it out… it’s nature that puts them out,” said Phillips.
Phillips explained that we are now learning to create buffer zones for the fires by clearing out part of the forest to create a break in flammable material and “let the fires burn themselves out.”
“The forest fires are not caused by climate change, but they’re made worse [by it],” said Phillips. “We need to treat this as a real threat.”
