Eastern Canada suffocated Thursday, June 1 due to an extreme heat wave, raising fears of a resurgence of forest fires ravaging the country, already facing an "unprecedented" year.

In total, more than 210 fires are currently active in the country, 82 of which are out of control. And more than 2.7 million hectares have already burned in 2023, eight times more than the average of the last 30 years, Canadian authorities announced. "These conditions, at this stage of the season, are absolutely unprecedented and obviously cause for concern," Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair said.

After the west of the country and the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan in early May, it is the turn of the east and Nova Scotia to be affected by huge fires due to very hot and dry weather, in a province unaccustomed to fires.

"It's a fact: Canada is experiencing the effects of climate change, including more frequent and extreme wildfires," said Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Natural Resources, who noted that the area of forests burned is expected to double by 2050.

"Breathtaking"

In Nova Scotia, at the heart of all the concerns in recent days, 16 fires were active Thursday. Some 200 homes were destroyed and nearly 20,000 people evacuated. "Breathtaking numbers," according to Tim Houston, the province's premier.

And with the arrival of an extreme heat wave and high winds, "we are far from out of the woods," said David Steeves of the Department of Natural Resources, speaking of a "very dangerous and volatile" situation.

Firefighters from the United States and South Africa are expected to provide reinforcements in the coming days. "We need Mother Nature to stand on our side on this one," Steeves added.

One of the huge fires reached the suburbs of the province's main city, Halifax, and forced authorities to evacuate more than 16,000 people northwest of the city. It now seems to be partially under control. But another fire near Barrington Lake is particularly under scrutiny because it is still out of control after ravaging 20,000 hectares. This is the largest fire ever recorded in the province.

Heat records

In other provinces in Eastern Canada, including Quebec and Ontario, record temperatures were reached in several locations. In Toronto, the thermometer reads 30.7°C, according to Environment Canada, surpassing the previous daily record of 28.3°C set in 1948.

In Montreal, where the thermometer reached 34°C when the previous record was just under 30°C, on one of the city's many construction sites, Line Blette, open construction jacket and soaked tank top, is looking for protection. "It's hot but we get watered, we get wet. This is the only way to continue the work," she explains.

A few meters away, Nora Amar is surprised by the "radical change" only two weeks after barely positive temperatures, and wonders "what can be done". In the city, "more trees would be really useful," she says, wearing a white cap on her head. On the streets of Ottawa, Christine Shaikin put on a wet jacket on her dog: "she can handle the heat because of it." "Welcome to Miami," she says.

In western Canada, a month after fires broke out that forced the province of Alberta to declare a state of emergency, more than 60 fires were still ongoing and more than 1.13 million hectares have already burned. In the neighbouring province of Saskatchewan, one of the country's breadbaskets, about twenty fires were counted and more than 850,000 hectares went up in smoke.

Canada, which is warming faster than the rest of the planet because of its geographic location, has been facing extreme weather events in recent years, the intensity and frequency of which are increased by climate change.

With AFP

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