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CTV News
2 hours ago
- Climate
- CTV News
Wild weather: Extreme heat, wildfires and deadly flooding
Here are some of the weather stories making headlines around the world this past week. Here are some of the weather stories making headlines around the world this past week. At least 30 people have died in Beijing after flooding from days of heavy rain. Another eight are confirmed dead in a neighbouring regions. More than 80,000 people have been evacuated and relocated as the floods cut power and communications to more than 100 villages. More than half a metre (over 20 inches) of rain fell over the course of a few days. That's almost an entire year's-worth of rain. Extreme heat has been affecting large portions of North America and in Europe, they're dealing with another heatwave. In Greece, temperatures were in the 40s. The heat forced the partial closure of the Acropolis temple for the second time this month and the Labour Ministry suspended work between the hours of 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. In Turkiye, a weather station in the southeast hit 50.5 C. That's a national record, breaking the previous record by a full degrees. And both Turkiye and Greece have also been dealing with wildfires fueled by the hot, dry conditions. Fourteen volunteer firefighters and rescue workers have been killed battling the blazes in western and northwest Turkiye. More than 3,500 people have been forced out of their homes because of the fires.
CBC
23-07-2025
- General
- CBC
Volunteer firefighters missing work to battle roaring wildfire in rural Newfoundland
The mayor of a rural Newfoundland town is among the volunteer firefighters missing work to battle a raging wildfire in a part of Canada where unpaid town councils and first responders are shouldering increasing numbers of emergencies. Jason Chaulk was supposed to fly out on Monday for Saskatchewan, where he is a rotational worker at a mine. But the volunteer mayor and deputy fire chief in Musgrave Harbour, N.L., along the northeast coast of Newfoundland, said he stayed home to fight the out-of-control wildfire threatening his community. Crews from volunteer fire departments in about a dozen other neighbouring communities have also pitched in, working alongside provincial firefighters, he said. Meanwhile, volunteer search and rescue teams helped residents leave safely after officials ordered an evacuation on Sunday. "I got guys here that flew in [Monday] morning that were away on turnarounds, guys that work on supply boats off the island, guys that work in construction in Ontario. Everybody came home, came together," said Chaulk. "We have our own jobs and our own families that we have to be concerned about," he added. "But we're taking on that responsibility for protecting the town as well." The fire near Musgrave Harbour ignited on Saturday evening during a spate of hot, dry weather. On Sunday, officials ordered the community's some 950 residents to evacuate as the flames crept within a kilometre of the town. Chaulk and his 30-member volunteer firefighting crew have been working since the blaze began, he said. They set up air mattresses in the fire hall so they can take shifts sleeping. The work means a lot to him. He grew up in Deadman's Bay, about 25 km southeast of Musgrave Harbour, where two children died in a fire, he said. The town didn't have a fire department to respond, Chaulk said. "From that day on, I took it upon myself that if there was any way I could help a community and be a firefighter, I would." The 16-square-kilometre wildfire in Musgrave Harbour was one of five burning in the province on Tuesday. A larger fire — 18 square km — burned about 100 km away in the Chance Harbour area. As of Tuesday morning, both were out of control. The Chance Harbour fire began last week and burnt several cabins to the ground along Bonavista Bay. It was the second wildfire this year to destroy structures. In May, a fire in the Adam's Cove area, located about 90 km to the south, demolished about a dozen homes. Craig Pollett, a consultant and former chief executive of Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador, worries that too much is being asked of small volunteer councils and fire departments, especially as more storms and wildfires are expected as the climate changes. "I would imagine the impact on the human beings doing this work is incredible, whether they are volunteer firefighters or professional firefighters," said Pollett, vice-president of Strategic Steps, which advises organizations on governance. "It's got to be even more so when you actually have another job that you have to do." Newfoundland and Labrador has about 274 municipalities across a population of roughly 540,000. Three-quarters of those towns are home to fewer than 1,000 people, and many have a few hundred residents, he noted. Unlike much of the rest of Canada, Newfoundland and Labrador doesn't have regional governments, which could help towns pool their scarce resources and better plan for emergencies such as wildfires, he said. This lack of upper-tier governments puts a large burden on small volunteer-led towns — some with fewer than 100 people — when disaster strikes, Pollett said. Mike Tiller is a volunteer firefighter and mayor in New-Wes-Valley, which is about 45 km southeast of Musgrave Harbour, where he was on Sunday helping out, along with other members from the New-Wes-Valley crew. Tiller wondered if there was some way for the federal government to create a program to compensate unpaid first responders working for days or weeks in an emergency.
Yahoo
23-07-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Volunteer firefighters missing work to battle roaring wildfire in rural Newfoundland
The mayor of a rural Newfoundland town is among the volunteer firefighters missing work to battle a raging wildfire in a part of Canada where unpaid town councils and first responders are shouldering increasing numbers of emergencies. Jason Chaulk was supposed to fly out on Monday for Saskatchewan, where he is a rotational worker at a mine. But the volunteer mayor and deputy fire chief in Musgrave Harbour, N.L., along the northeast coast of Newfoundland, said he stayed home to fight the out-of-control wildfire threatening his community. Crews from volunteer fire departments in about a dozen other neighbouring communities have also pitched in, working alongside provincial firefighters, he said. Meanwhile, volunteer search and rescue teams helped residents leave safely after officials ordered an evacuation on Sunday. "I got guys here that flew in [Monday] morning that were away on turnarounds, guys that work on supply boats off the island, guys that work in construction in Ontario. Everybody came home, came together," said Chaulk. "We have our own jobs and our own families that we have to be concerned about," he added. "But we're taking on that responsibility for protecting the town as well." The fire near Musgrave Harbour ignited on Saturday evening during a spate of hot, dry weather. On Sunday, officials ordered the community's some 950 residents to evacuate as the flames crept within a kilometre of the town. Chaulk and his 30-member volunteer firefighting crew have been working since the blaze began, he said. They set up air mattresses in the fire hall so they can take shifts sleeping. The work means a lot to him. He grew up in Deadman's Bay, about 25 km southeast of Musgrave Harbour, where two children died in a fire, he said. The town didn't have a fire department to respond, Chaulk said. "From that day on, I took it upon myself that if there was any way I could help a community and be a firefighter, I would." The 16-square-kilometre wildfire in Musgrave Harbour was one of five burning in the province on Tuesday. A larger fire — 18 square km — burned about 100 km away in the Chance Harbour area. As of Tuesday morning, both were out of control. The Chance Harbour fire began last week and burnt several cabins to the ground along Bonavista Bay. It was the second wildfire this year to destroy structures. In May, a fire in the Adam's Cove area, located about 90 km to the south, demolished about a dozen homes. Craig Pollett, a consultant and former chief executive of Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador, worries that too much is being asked of small volunteer councils and fire departments, especially as more storms and wildfires are expected as the climate changes. "I would imagine the impact on the human beings doing this work is incredible, whether they are volunteer firefighters or professional firefighters," said Pollett, vice-president of Strategic Steps, which advises organizations on governance. "It's got to be even more so when you actually have another job that you have to do." Newfoundland and Labrador has about 274 municipalities across a population of roughly 540,000. Three-quarters of those towns are home to fewer than 1,000 people, and many have a few hundred residents, he noted. Unlike much of the rest of Canada, Newfoundland and Labrador doesn't have regional governments, which could help towns pool their scarce resources and better plan for emergencies such as wildfires, he said. This lack of upper-tier governments puts a large burden on small volunteer-led towns — some with fewer than 100 people — when disaster strikes, Pollett said. Mike Tiller is a volunteer firefighter and mayor in New-Wes-Valley, which is about 45 km southeast of Musgrave Harbour, where he was on Sunday helping out, along with other members from the New-Wes-Valley crew. Tiller wondered if there was some way for the federal government to create a program to compensate unpaid first responders working for days or weeks in an emergency. "When you have volunteers that are turning down money to stay home and protect their town, I mean, that's huge," he said in an interview. "This is something that needs to be looked at. Because the next generation is coming up and who knows what you're going to get for volunteers?" Download our free CBC News app to sign up for push alerts for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. Sign up for our daily headlines newsletter here.
CBC
17-07-2025
- Climate
- CBC
Volunteer crews from across Sask. flock to Beauval to fight fires
Volunteer firefighters from across Saskatchewan have been working in Beauval and other communities in the province's north to help save them from ongoing wildfires. Volunteer crews and equipment from Humboldt, Davidson and Warman, alongside a host of other communities, have been helping with controlled burns, patrolling for spot fires and setting up sprinkler systems in the village, which is about 350 kilometres northwest of Saskatoon and is under a full evacuation order. "You immediately just thought, 'they need help,'" said Corey Dean, the chief of the fire department in the south-central Saskatchewan town of Davidson. "We have the training and we have the resources, we have extra equipment. We have a large enough department. It was a decision that we made upon ourselves." Dean was in Beauval from July 2 to July 13 fighting fires. He and his crew helped save every house in the community as the fires edged up against the town, he said. "It's literally hell on earth when the fire comes into town. There's no other way to describe it," he said. "It quickly turned from daylight to nighttime as smoke covered the sun. It got really dark, really smoky, and really hot." It was "easily the most intense and humbling experience of my life as a firefighter," said Dean. His Beauval deployment was his second this season, having spent six days in Weyakwin — about 150 kilometres southeast of Beauval — setting up a controlled burn earlier in the summer to protect the Ramsey Bay Resort. His team, all of whom have other full-time careers, are now taking a breather, he said. The Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency has been spearheading the effort to recruit local firefighters, putting out a call through the Saskatchewan Association of Fire Chiefs to help co-ordinate resources. Mike Kwasnica, the president of the fire chiefs' association, said local fire crews, who have more experience with structure fires, are being called in to let provincial fire crews focus on wildland firefighting. "This season has been extraordinarily busy like we've never seen before," said Kwasnica, who is also the chief of the Humboldt Fire Department. "To do a provincial call-out like this is very rare." 'That's what we do' Kwasnica sent two of his firefighters to Beauval to complement another department that could only send a fire truck. Earlier this summer, he also did a 12-day deployment fighting fires in Weyakwin and La Ronge, to the north. Like Dean's crews, Kwasnica's firefighters also have other full-time jobs, which he said makes co-ordination difficult. "I think a lot of the municipality fire departments are starting to get tired and worn out," he said. "It's just a matter of trying to co-ordinate peoples' holidays, their time off work, because … all these firefighters that we have that are going up all have other jobs." They face long, hot and uncomfortable days, he said. "But we're hoping that it makes a difference. And I know that in the past, and I'll speak for Humboldt, that when we needed help from the province, everybody came to our assistance," said Kwasnica. "For us, that's what we do." The Saskatchewan government has also had help from crews and the use of equipment from other provinces for weeks. Last week, two airplanes and 100 wildfire personnel came from Quebec, and 40 firefighters came from Australia. The public safety agency said another 40 firefighters from Mexico will be arriving in the next few days. Steve Roberts, the agency's vice-president of operations, said Wednesday he didn't have an exact number for how many fire departments currently have resources and crew members in Beauval, but that his agency is ready to co-ordinate more support. "Should they need more or need replacement, those will be addressed through our normal process for getting more resources to those scenes," he said. When asked about the growing numbers of international crews coming into the province, Roberts disputed the argument that the province isn't putting enough resources into local crews. "We have actually trained thousands of local community members to assist us," he said. Training and awareness programs are well underway, but "the training is not the barrier," he said. "It's getting individuals to come forward, identify themselves and be hired to assist in the efforts." The safety agency said as of Wednesday night, there were 48 active wildfires in the province, 10 of which are not contained. So far this year, there have been 372 fires in the province, well above the five-year average of 273 for this date.
Yahoo
28-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Carl Junction Fire Protection District faces rising costs and calls, decreasing volunteers
CARL JUNCTION, Mo. — The Carl Junction Fire Protection District is feeling the fallout of the national volunteer firefighter shortage while at the same time facing higher call volumes and rising equipment costs. The district's coverage area is about 74 square miles, from the Joplin city limits, north to Asbury, and the state line to Missouri Highway 43. 'To put it into context, we are busier than the single busiest fire station in Joplin,' said fire Chief Joe Perkins. 'We outrun Joplin Fire Station No. 3 by about 30 or 40 calls.' Volunteers comprise 65% of firefighters in the United States, according to data from the National Volunteer Fire Council. Small and midsize communities rely heavily on volunteer firefighters. When Perkins first joined the department in 1998, there were more than 60 volunteers on the roster and no paid personnel. In 2005, he was one of the first three full-time firefighters hired in Carl Junction. He became captain, assistant chief, then fire chief in 2015. Today, the Carl Junction Fire Protection District has 18 volunteer firefighters. Last year, it had 24 volunteers. The district currently has 12 full-time firefighters on staff and operates four fire stations. 'It got to a point where we had to augment because we don't have the same amount of volunteers,' said Perkins. 'Now, each shift has three people and we augment that with a PRN (as-needed) guy who works 10 to 12 hours during the day.' An increase in annual calls has also been affecting the district's equipment and the amount of coverage limited staff can provide. In 2018, the district responded to a total of 275 calls. In 2019, there were a total of 1,725 calls. Perkins said their calls now average about 2,500 annually. Rising equipment costs due to inflation and supply shortages from the COVID-19 pandemic have also caused budget constraints for the district. Perkins said they've had to get more creative with equipment and have even remounted tankers to save money. 'We have two trucks where we remounted current tankers and basically put the same tank and pump on a new chassis,' said Perkins. 'This saved us roughly about $190,000 for those vehicles individually, nearly $400,000 total.' The Carl Junction Fire Protection District's budget is fueled by a tax levy and operates independently from the city. With these ongoing challenges, Perkins said they may have to explore other ways to generate additional revenue for the district, such as placing a bond issue on the April 2026 ballot. 'Fire protection districts in Missouri are funded primarily through property taxes,' said Perkins. 'We're not growing the same way that some of these bigger cities have been. We have to adapt.'
