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Latest news, international – Canada is on track for the worst year for fire devastation as hot, dry conditions are expected to persist through late summer after an unprecedented start to the fire season, officials said Monday. June 5.

Fires are raging in nearly every province and territory in Canada, and federal government officials say their modeling shows an increased risk of wildfires across much of Canada through August.

“The distribution of fires from coast to coast this year is unusual. At this time of year, the fires are usually only burning on one side of the country at a time, most often the west,” said Michael Norton, an official with Canada’s Department of Natural Resources. Reuters.

Quebec, located in eastern Canada, is currently the most affected due to numerous fires started by lightning.

“The rate of increase in area burned is also high. If this rate continues, we could hit a record area burned this year,” Norton said.

The fires spread rapidly across eastern Canada and forced evacuations in Atlantic Nova Scotia and on the Quebec coast.

On Monday, the Wallbridge Mining Company temporarily evacuated a gold project camp in Quebec and suspended exploration activities on the Detour-Fenelon Gold Trend property due to an emergency order related to wildfires.

“In the past 20 years, we have never seen an area of ​​this size burning early in the season,” said Yan Boulanger, researcher at Natural Resources Canada.

“Partly due to climate change, we are seeing a trend of increasing area burned across Canada.”

As of Sunday, some 3.3 million hectares had burned, around 13 times the 10-year average, and more than 120,000 people were at least temporarily forced from their homes.

Wildfires, Canada’s second costliest disaster after floods, have destroyed homes, affected oil and gas production in the main crude oil-producing province of Alberta and polluted the air in Canada and in the USA.

“It’s a scary time for a lot of people,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said at a news conference in Ottawa.

“When people lose their homes, they don’t just lose their homes and belongings; they miss this special place where they saw their children grow up, where they built their lives,” Trudeau said.

There are currently 413 active wildfires, with 249 deemed to be out of control, and approximately 26,000 people are under evacuation orders across Canada.