Wildfire season in Western Canada falls into ‘historically normal’ category - for now

Dire predictions that Western Canadian provinces would endure a repeat of last year’s monstrous blazes that forced widespread evacuations and scorched huge swaths of land have yet to materialize. But it would be premature to breathe easy, warn wildfire officials in Alberta and British Columbia, who say lightning storms and expected sizzling temperatures will increase the risk as summer progresses.“Thanks to the weather, we’re really in a much better place this season compared to where we were at the same time last year,” Alberta Wildfire spokesperson Josée St-Onge said. Roughly 31,000 hectares have burned so far this season, compared to a staggering 1.8 million hectares at the same point in 2023, she added.