Eastern Canada is suffocating on Thursday due to an extreme heat wave, raising fears of a resurgence of forest fires ravaging the country, already facing an “unprecedented” year.
In total, more than 210 fires are currently active in the country, including 82 out of control. And more than 2.7 million hectares have already burned in 2023, eight times more than the average of the last 30 years, announced the Canadian authorities.
“These conditions, at this stage of the season, are absolutely unprecedented and obviously cause for concern,” said Bill Blair, Minister for Civil Protection.
After the west of the country and the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan in early May, it is the turn of the east and Nova Scotia to be affected by huge fires due to very bad weather. hot and dry, in a province unaccustomed to fires.
"It's a fact: Canada is experiencing the effects of climate change, including more frequent and more extreme forest fires," noted Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Natural Resources, who recalls that the area of burned forests is expected to double by here at 2050.
In Nova Scotia, at the heart of all concerns in recent days, 16 fires were active on Thursday. Some 200 homes were destroyed and nearly 20,000 people evacuated. "Breathtaking numbers," said Tim Houston, the province's premier.
And with the arrival of an extreme heat wave and strong winds, "we are far from out of the woods", explained David Steeves, of the Ministry of Natural Resources, speaking of a situation "very dangerous and volatile".
Firefighters from the United States and South Africa are expected as reinforcements in the coming days.
"We need Mother Nature on our side on this," added David Steeves.
One of the huge fires reached the suburbs of the province's main city, Halifax, and forced authorities to evacuate more than 16,000 people to the northwest of the city. It now seems partially under control.
But another fire near Lake Barrington is under particular scrutiny because it is still out of control after ravaging 20,000 hectares. It is the largest fire ever recorded in the province.
In the other provinces of eastern Canada, notably in Quebec and Ontario, record temperatures were reached in several places. In Toronto, the thermometer reads 30.7°C, according to Environment Canada, surpassing the previous daily record of 28.3°C set in 1948.
In Montreal, where the thermometer reached 34°C when the previous record was a little below 30°C, on one of the many construction sites in the city, Line Blette, open construction jacket and soaked tank top seeks to protect herself .
"It's hot but we water ourselves, we get wet. It's the only way to continue the work," she explains.
A few meters away, Nora Amar is surprised at the "radical change" only two weeks after barely positive temperatures, and wonders "what can be done". In town, "more trees would be really useful," she says, white cap on her head.
In the streets of Ottawa, Christine Shaikin put a wet jacket on her dog: "she supports the heat thanks to that". "Welcome to Miami," she slips.
In the west of the country, a month after the outbreak of fires that forced the province of Alberta to declare a state of emergency, more than 60 fires were still burning and more than 1.13 million hectares have already burned.
In the neighboring province of Saskatchewan, one of the breadbaskets of the country, about twenty fires were counted and more than 850,000 hectares went up in smoke.
Canada, which, due to its geographical location, is warming faster than the rest of the planet, has been confronted in recent years with extreme weather events, the intensity and frequency of which are increased by climate change.
06/01/2023 23:11:01 - Montréal (AFP) - © 2023 AFP
