Forest fires now also in Eastern Canada, and evacuated thousands of people

Due to persistent forest fires, thousands of residents of the eastern Canada have had to leave their house. Another thousands of people have been warned to be extra alert. The state of emergency has been declared in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Canada has been plagued by fires for some time. Currently, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center, there are such a 700 active fires throughout the country. It is striking that many forest fires are raging in areas where they normally remain relatively small.

Extremely dry and hot

The centrally located provinces Saskatchewan and Manitoba are the most affected. The biggest fire is the Shoe Fire in Saskatchewan, which has been raging since 7 May. This nature fire has since destroyed an area larger than the province of Gelderland.

In British Columbia, in the west of Canada, 75 forest fires, four of which are uncontrollable, reports the Canadian channel CBC . One rages at a mountain on Vancouver Island, west of Vancouver, where it is extremely dry and hot. Hundreds of people had to leave the island earlier.

But also in the east on the Atlantic Ocean (Newfoundland and Labrador) there are fires that are difficult to manage. That is why the state of emergency has now been declared. That is striking, because forest fires are less common in the east, among other things due to the moist climate and other vegetation.

The Prime Minister of Newfoundland and Labrador announced a ban on the use of vehicles on wooded terrain last week. There is no evidence that vehicles play a role in the fires; The prime minister therefore says that he has made this decision as a precaution.

Twice as large as the Netherlands

In Canada this year so far about 75,000 square kilometers of forest has been burned, an area that is almost twice as large than the Netherlands. That is the worst year after 2023 in this century.

Although forest fires occur every year in Canada, this season it is exceptionally serious due to the persistent hot and the dry weather. Large parts of the country are struggling with severe drought, and the snow that normally keeps the ground moist well into the spring was scarce this year. As a result, the vegetation is completely dried out, so that Fire easily spreads.