The St. Mary's wildfire in a handout image provided by the B.C. Wildfire Service.HO/The Canadian Press
Several homes in a First Nations community in southeastern British Columbia were destroyed by a wildfire this week, as this season’s record-breaking blazes continued to affect people across Canada.
The fire, known as the St. Mary’s River wildfire, ignited on Monday near Cranbrook, B.C. and quickly grew to eight square kilometres in size. It incinerated seven homes in the nearby First Nations community of Aqam.
“To put the magnitude of the impact into perspective, those seven homes represent 10 per cent of the houses in our community. They represent a home, shelter and security for those affected families,” Aqam Chief Joe Pierre Jr. said in a statement.
B.C. Premier David Eby said the provincial and federal governments will help the First Nation with the rebuilding and recovery process. He added that his government is also focusing on partnering with Indigenous peoples and firefighters to provide a faster and more effective response to wildfires.
In the Regional District of East Kootenay, which includes Cranbrook and Aqam, 52 households are under evacuation orders, and 43 are under alert. The wildfire, which the BC Wildfire Service said is under investigation but is believed to have been caused by a downed power line, is considered under control.
“This has been a tremendously difficult week for our community,” Mr. Pierre said. “We are all family and when times are difficult, we as a community come together.”
Across the province, 289 properties are under evacuation orders, and 1,824 are under evacuation alert, B.C. Ministry of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness spokesperson Aimee Harper said Wednesday. More than 370 wildfires continued to burn in B.C. and 14,280 square kilometres of land had been consumed by fire since April 1, the most on record in a single season.
The province is now receiving aid from the Canadian Armed Forces, as well as firefighters from the U.S., Australia, Mexico and New Zealand. On Tuesday, 75 soldiers were sent to Vanderhoof to help, and another 75 were scheduled to arrive in Burns Lake on Wednesday.
On the other side of the Rockies, Alberta also continues to battle a record-breaking wildfire season. As of Wednesday there were 121 fires still burning in that province, with 18 considered out of control. With months left before temperatures cool off in the fall, 17,320 square kilometres of land had gone up in flames there since April 1, surpassing the 1981 record of 13,570 square kilometres.
Across Canada, fires have incinerated close to 110,000 square kilometres of land, the equivalent of three Vancouver Islands. The resulting wildfire smoke has prompted around 2,500 air quality bulletins since April 1, according to Environment Canada.
At least 371 of those were in Alberta, and another 195 were in B.C., where the coroners service issued a public safety bulletin on Monday after a family said wildfire smoke had contributed to their nine-year-old son’s death. Ryan Panton, a spokesperson for the coroner, said the bulletin was the first of its kind for the service and that wildfire smoke is a possible autopsy result.
The warm, dry conditions that have exacerbated the 2023 wildfire season have also caused serious problems in Canada’s agricultural industry, particularly in the west. The latest federal drought report, from the end of June, said 60 per cent of Canada was abnormally dry or experiencing moderate to severe drought, including 76 per cent of the country’s agricultural land. The driest conditions were in B.C. and Alberta, where farmers and ranchers have said they fear their operations will be severely impacted.
Alberta has issued water shortage advisories at 29 of its water basins, and B.C. is reporting serious drought conditions at 22 basins. B.C. officials are urging water conservation measures.
Environment Canada has said the country can expect dry and hot weather to continue throughout the summer and into the fall.