2023 Canadian wildfires

Canadian wildfires of 2023
Date(s)March 1, 2023—November 2023
LocationCanada (all 13 provinces and territories)[1] and subsequent spillover into the Northern United States
Statistics
Total fires6,551[2] (as of October 6, 2023)
Total area18.496 million ha (45.70 million acres)[2] (as of October 6, 2023)
Impacts
Deaths8[3]
Evacuated185,000[4]–232,000[3]
Map
Map
Perimeters of 2023 Canadian wildfires - season to date (map data)
Season
2024 →

Beginning in March 2023, and with increased intensity starting in June, Canada was affected by a record-setting series of wildfires. All 13 provinces and territories were affected, with large fires in Alberta, British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Quebec. The 2023 wildfire season had the most area burned in Canada's recorded history, surpassing the 1989, 1995, and 2014 fire seasons,[5][2] as well as in recorded North American history, surpassing the 2020 Western US wildfire season.[6][7]

As of October 6, 6,551 fires had burned 184,961 square kilometres (71,414 sq mi),[2] about 5% of the entire forest area of Canada,[8] and more than six times the long-term average of 27,300 square kilometres (10,541 sq mi) for that time of the year.[1] As of mid-October, the total area burnt was more than 2.5 times the previous record.[9] Eight firefighters were killed, and 185,000 to 232,000 people were displaced,[3][4] including 16,400 in Nova Scotia's capital of Halifax, 21,720 in the Northwest Territories capital of Yellowknife, and almost 30,000 in British Columbia's Kelowna and West Kelowna.[10] Thousands of international firefighters travelled to Canada to combat the fires.[11][12]

Smoke emitted from the wildfires caused air quality alerts and evacuations in Canada and the United States.[13] In late June, the smoke crossed the Atlantic Ocean, reaching Europe.[14][15] Many of the largest fires were under control by July, including fires which had funnelled smoke into the Eastern Seaboard. However, significant fires continued well into the fall season, with several major fires breaking out in September.[16] Moderate-to-severe drought conditions from British Columbia to northern Ontario also continued into fall.[17] Though most of the fires were extinguished by winter, some in northern Alberta and British Columbia continued to smoulder in peat, reigniting the following February and starting the 2024 fires.[3]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference SitArchive was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b c d "Fire Statistics". Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d Jones, Matthew W.; et al. (August 14, 2024). "State of Wildfires 2023–2024". Earth System Science Data. 16 (8). Copernicus GmbH: 3601–3685. doi:10.5194/essd-16-3601-2024. hdl:10871/137179. ISSN 1866-3516.
  4. ^ a b Clarkin, Acton (May 6, 2023). "Canada accounted for 43% of people displaced by wildfires globally in 2023, data shows". CBC. Retrieved August 13, 2024.
  5. ^ "Forest fire centre declares 2023 worst year ever for Canadian wildfires". The Globe and Mail. June 26, 2023. Archived from the original on June 27, 2023. Retrieved June 28, 2023.
  6. ^ Dion, Mathieu (June 7, 2023). "Hundreds of Fires Are Out of Control in Canada's Worst-Ever Season". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on June 7, 2023. Retrieved June 8, 2023.
  7. ^ "The 7 largest wildfires in North American history". PropertyCasualty360. Archived from the original on December 1, 2020. Retrieved June 28, 2023.
  8. ^ "The State of Canada's Forests Report". Government of Canada. June 11, 2015. Archived from the original on July 19, 2023. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
  9. ^ Livingston, Ian (October 18, 2023). "Canada's astonishing and record fire season finally slows down". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 8, 2024.
  10. ^ Kolden, Crystal A.; Abatzoglou, John T.; Jones, Matthew W.; Jain, Piyush (April 4, 2024). "Wildfires in 2023". Nature Reviews Earth & Environment. 5 (4): 238–240. doi:10.1038/s43017-024-00544-y. ISSN 2662-138X.
  11. ^ Smellie, Sarah (June 12, 2023). "Nearly 350 firefighters from the EU will help battle relentless Canadian wildfires". CTV News. Archived from the original on June 16, 2023. Retrieved June 16, 2023.
  12. ^ "Canada will continue to rely on foreign firefighters as wildfires increase: Trudeau". CTV News. The Canadian Press. June 14, 2023. Archived from the original on June 16, 2023. Retrieved June 16, 2023.
  13. ^ "A big swath of the U.S. is under red and purple air quality alerts from Canada's smoke". npr.org. June 29, 2023. Archived from the original on July 3, 2023.
  14. ^ "Europe experiences significant transport of smoke from Canada wildfires". atmosphere.copernicus.eu. June 27, 2023. Archived from the original on July 4, 2023. Retrieved July 4, 2023.
  15. ^ "Canadian Smoke Reaches Europe". NASA. June 26, 2023. Archived from the original on July 2, 2023. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
  16. ^ Canada's worst wildfire season on recordcbc.ca Archived November 6, 2023, at the Wayback Machine
  17. ^ Monthly assessment mapsagriculture.canada.ca Archived November 6, 2023, at the Wayback Machine