Heat warnings, air-quality alerts abound for long weekend as destructive wildfire season continues

Globe and Mail

14 hours ago

Harsh temperatures and heavy smoke have triggered heat warnings and air-quality alerts for large swaths of the country this weekend, as hundreds of wildfires remain uncontained in Western and Central Canada.
Higher-risk conditions are anticipated in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, prompting special bulletins from Environment and Climate Change Canada for dozens of cities and towns. Meteorologists expect dryness, heat and lower precipitation to create ripe weather conditions for intense fire behaviour.
During a time of the year usually marked by busy campsites, open-air sports and summer festivals, many Canadians are cautiously rethinking their plans. Several events have been cancelled or postponed, while some provincial governments have restricted lakeside campfires and are not issuing burn permits for residents.
Throughout the August long weekend, people in affected areas are being advised to reschedule outdoor activities, limit exposure to the sun by taking frequent breaks, and to drink plenty of water to prevent heat strokes and exhaustion.
How wildfire smoke and poor air quality can affect your health, and how to protect yourself
More than 700 active wildfires are burning across the country, at least 225 of which are deemed out of control.
Canada has been experiencing some of the most destructive wildfires in recent decades this summer, with the conflagrations scorching more than 6.3 million hectares of land so far. The Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre noted this week that 2025 is on track to be the second-worst season in history, falling just behind the record-setting intensity of 2023.
Mike Flannigan, a wildfire scientist in Kamloops, B.C., who has been tracking weather patterns since the 1970s, said the severity of this season may not be palpable for Canadians who have not had to encounter persistent smoke.
But, he said, including this season so far, roughly seven per cent of the country's forests have burned over the past three years. 'It's been a really horrific year,' said the professor at Thompson Rivers University, calling the data 'mind-boggling.'
Manitoba and Saskatchewan have borne the brunt of this year's aggressive and earlier start to the wildfire season, with forecasts this weekend suggesting little to no rainfall in both provinces, along with hot, dry and windy conditions.
On Friday, Saskatchewan crews faced at least 71 fires, with around 3,500 people evacuated from nearly a dozen communities. That includes roughly 500 residents from Clearwater River Dene Nation, about 600 kilometres northwest of Saskatoon. They've been ordered to flee this week, just as hundreds of others are returning back to areas now deemed safe.
Officials in Manitoba, who declared two separate provincewide state of emergencies this summer, are battling more than 125 significant wildfires. At least 13,200 people in the province continue to be out of their homes, and have spent nearly a month in shelters and lodgings. Some 300 more residents were added to that list this week from the northern community of Cormorant, close to The Pas.
While the situation in 2025 has been much better in Alberta than 2024, when wind-whipped wildfires destroyed at least one-third of the area surrounding Jasper National Park, officials in that province are also entering this weekend with concerns.
The Alberta Wildfire Service said hot weather from Friday to Monday is expected to drive up the danger for conflagrations in most of the province – the only parts not under risk are the southern Alberta region, which has received recent rainfall, and the cooler Rocky Mountains.
Alberta is contending with at least 50 wildfires, and has warned campers to protect themselves by minimizing campfires.
Shawna Giffin and her family, who live in Edmonton, are used to spending summers in different parts of the province, including near Chipewyan Lake. But as a nearly 137,000-hectare fire has been burning around Chipewyan since May, they have adjusted their plans.
'We're keeping things flexible this year, a lot more than ever before,' she said.
In B.C., where rain is forecasted this weekend, recent lightning has been a cause for alarm. Lightning is particularly concerning because strikes can often ignite fires a few days after they've hit an area, Dr. Flannigan explained.
The BC Wildfire Service said roughly 13,167 lightning strikes were recorded across the province on Wednesday, with 14 of those sparking wildfires detected by the agency on Thursday and more expected in the days ahead.
Victoria residents Brenda and Peter Brophy said they were intent on beating the long weekend rush of traffic, so they left their home after work on Thursday, packing up their van to head toward a campground at Little Qualicum Falls Provincial Park.
But when they approached the park from the highway, they saw a giant plume of smoke from the nearby wildfire close to Cameron Lake.
'We stopped, we opened up our phones, and looked at the news,' Ms. Brophy said Friday.
The campsite was just outside the area under evacuation orders, so the couple and their Schipperke dogs, Lucy and Moks, stayed put without unpacking their hammock, awning or fire pit.
'You could really smell the smoke,' Ms. Brophy said. 'And then, we heard choppers all night.'
There are at least 130 active wildfires in B.C. Although residents that were rushed out of their homes earlier this week because of a wildfire near Peachland in the province's Okanagan region have since been allowed to return, homes on the north side of Cameron Lake, about 60 kilometres from the city of Nanaimo, have been ordered to evacuate.
At the campsite where the Brophys are staying, roughly half of the people who had reserved spots have now cancelled their plans. The couple says they will stay there as long as they can, but they are trying their best to refrain from cracking open a bottle of wine in case they are ordered to leave on short notice.