It is a race against time with already limited resources: Dozens of wildfires have raged for several days in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, two provinces in central Canada. Both regions declared a 30-day state of emergency at the end of May to confront a situation that was as unprecedented as it was concerning − an unusual order that allowed them to mobilize more resources and impose travel bans. "Resources [to fight the fires] are stretched thin because of the severity of the situation that we're facing and the intensity and the proximity of the fires," warned Scott Moe, the prime minister of Saskatchewan, on Saturday, May 30. "Just can't have another fire," he cautioned.

While Canada faces wildfires every summer, the early start and scale of this season have caused particular concern: Nearly 1.6 million hectares have already burned, the equivalent of twice the area of Corsica. Since 2015, only the 2023 season saw blazes of such magnitude this early; 15 million hectares eventually burned in that record-setting year. "There has been a persistence of very dry and hot conditions. The burned areas are accumulating very quickly," explained Yan Boulanger, a forest ecology researcher at Natural Resources Canada. "Some weather stations have recorded very, very little precipitation since the beginning of May, or even since the beginning of March. In some cases, we are seeing a 70% precipitation deficit," he added.

You have 63.15% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.