“It is with heavy hearts that our union mourns the loss of a family member who lost his life today fighting a wildfire outside of Revelstoke,” B.C. the BCGEU trade union. In the country, the number of fires continues to increase and particularly in western Canada, where in a few days several hundred fire starts have been recorded, triggered by storms.
British Columbia, which recently ordered new evacuations, has requested the assistance of 1,000 additional international firefighters. But “it’s very difficult to get additional firefighting capabilities,” BC Fire Department spokesman Cliff Chapman said Thursday.
9.6 million hectares gone up in smoke
“It’s a very dangerous job. The conditions we find ourselves in make it even more dangerous for our staff who work 14, 16, 20 hours a day trying to do everything to keep these fires away from strategic areas,” said he added.
With 9.6 million hectares already gone up in smoke across the country – which represents more than 11 times the average of the last decade – the absolute annual record dating from 1989 has already been largely exceeded.
Unusually, both sides of the country are burning at the same time this year in Canada. Some provinces unaccustomed to fires are also affected. One of the forest fires in northern Quebec alone burned more than a million hectares.
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 whose intensity and frequency have been increased by climate change.