Corné van Hoepen
Canada wildfires 2024: The latest on active wildfire counts, maps, evacuation orders, air quality and smoke alerts nationwide
As students across Canada head back to school, kids from Jasper must wait to reunite with teachers and friends
Corné van Hoepen
·Editor, Yahoo News Canada
Updated
Kids from Jasper are having to wait a bit longer to get back to school after this summer's devastating wildfires. Officials are rushing to ensure the kids' timely return to class, but with the increasing prevalence of wildfires, flooding and other extreme weather events, experts say school authorities everywhere must be planning for climate-related emergencies.
There are currently more than 700 active wildfires burning nationwide, with Tuesday's hotspot being British Columbia — 292 fires are currently burning across the province, according to official data.
For the latest on active wildfire counts, evacuation order and alerts, and insight into how wildfires are impacting everyday Canadians, scroll below to see our Yahoo Canada live blog.
LIVE COVERAGE IS OVER4 updates
Canada's wildfire National Preparedness Level drops to 3: What this means.
In an update last week, the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC) reduced the National Preparedness Level (NPL) against wildfires from four to three.
As summer winds down, bringing cooler temperatures and more moisture, the demand for mobilization is decreasing.
CIFFC is now at a NPL 3.
While there is still 🔥activity in some parts of the country, the demand for mobilization is gradually decreasing.
Thank you to all firefighters and personnel that helped during this wildfire season!
➡️ https://t.co/aGHlIvvLYk pic.twitter.com/exbORg9QNv— CIFFC (@CIFFC) August 30, 2024
What does NPL 3 mean?
Here are the factors that are considered NPL classification — which the service scales from one to five.
NPL considers:
Availability and demand for firefighters or equipment
Current environmental conditions
Potential for new wildland fires
Current active wildland fires
An NPL classification of three is defined as:
Wildland fire is increasing within one or more jurisdictions while the demand for mobilization of firefighters and equipment from other jurisdictions is moderate.
Last week saw the historic deployment of a 10-member team of First Nations firefighters from Atlantic Canada to Alberta. This is the first deployment of an Indigenous firefighting crew in Atlantic Canada.
A 10-member team of First Nations firefighters has deployed to Alberta alongside 11 firefighters from our wildfire management branch. This is the first deployment of an Indigenous firefighting crew in Atlantic Canada. The Wabanaki Wildland crew was trained last spring by our… pic.twitter.com/RzTnfByrnl
— Government of NB (@Gov_NB) August 26, 2024
- Corné van Hoepen
Stifling heat wave raises wildfire threat across B.C.
The Weather Network warns that a prolonged heat wave has the ability to raise the fire danger to high across the southern tier of B.C. over the duration of this week.
For current B.C. evacuation orders and alerts, click HERE.
Province-wide, however, the number of active wildfires continues to decline, with fire crews responding to 216 active blazes — 15 per cent of which are classified as out-of-control, according to B.C.'s wildfire dashboard.
Active wildfire data on the B.C. Wildfire dashboard. (Courtesy: BC Wildfire Service) B.C. Wildfire Service has reported over 1,500 fires across the province this season, which are collectively responsible for burning more than one-million hectares of land. Nearly three-quarters of those fires were started by lightning. There were 30 out-of-control fires burning in the province as of September 1.
FireSmart BC and @BCAA partnered in 2023 to boost wildfire resilience in BC through the BCAA FireSmart Initiative, supporting remote regions and Indigenous communities through outreach efforts, resources, and grants. Watch the following video to learn more! pic.twitter.com/hLPPHT9ooG
— FireSmart BC (@BCFireSmart) August 28, 2024
- Corné van Hoepen
'Not going to be a normal school year': Jasper students at home as Canadians flock back to school
Kids from Jasper are waiting a bit longer to get back to school in the wake of the summer's devastating wildfires that destroyed a major portion of the town.
Jasper's schools are set to reopen Sept. 17, mere weeks later than scheduled, due to everyone's drive to get school buildings ready ASAP for the approximately 470 students from K-12, said Carolyn Lewis-Shillington, chief superintendent of the Grande Yellowhead Public School Division (GYPSD).
Officials are rushing to ensure the kids' timely return to class, but with the increasing prevalence of wildfires, flooding and other extreme weather events, experts say school authorities everywhere must be planning for climate-related emergencies.
Ventilation systems were switched off remotely during evacuation, but ash and smoke from the fires — which destroyed more than 350 of Jasper's 1,113 buildings, Parks Canada said — entered through windows left open for cooling during that hot summer stretch. Once officials cleared people to return, Lewis-Shillington said, division facilities staff worked alongside insurers, contractors and specialists to determine how to proceed.
More than 200 people have spent five- to six-day weeks sanitizing (from wiping down library books to washing every piece of cutlery), cleaning ducts, replacing ceiling tiles, installing air purifiers, UV-cleaning computers, junking irreparable items and more. Restoration costs are estimated at over $10 million, Lewis-Shillington said, with the division paying an insurance deductible of about $500,000.
A warning sign noting the requirement for personal protective equipment stands outside École Desrochers, a Francophone school in Jasper that shares its site with Jasper Junior and High School. (Courtesy: CBC News)) GYPSD is also pulling together mental health support from across the small division, which stretches across a large geographic region. Family-school liaison counselors, health navigators and psychologists will be on hand in Jasper and Hinton, Lewis-Shillington said. An outside trauma counselor will also work with and advise staff and teachers.
⚠️ Jasper Wildfire Complex Update: Current as of 5 PM, August 30, 2024 — Day 40https://t.co/VUsHLeh9Eb pic.twitter.com/lNbqRHEP3w
— Jasper National Park, Parks Canada (@JasperNP) August 31, 2024
- Corné van Hoepen
National wildfire outlook map Sept. 3: How many fires are currently burning in Canada?
Active fires in Canada today: 701
The map below details the locations of wildfires across Canada and classified by status of:
Red = Out of Control
Yellow = Being Held
Blue = Under control
Purple = Out of Control (Monitored)
Active wildfires across Canada on Sept. 3, 2024. (Map Credit: Canadian Interagency Forest Fires Centre INC.) New fires today (Sept. 3): 7
Fires to date in 2024: 5,106
Area burned to date in 2024 (HA): 5.1M
Graph detailing number of active wildfires broken down by province. (Graph credit: Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre INC.) Key Canada wildfire updates on Tuesday:
🔥 As Jasper preps a later return to class, experts urge more schools to plan for climate emergencies.
🔥 B.C. heatwave threatens to raise the fire danger to high across the southern tier of the province and will lead to an elevated risk of thunderstorms once again on Tuesday.