National Wildland Fire Situation Report

National Wildland Fire Situation Report

Archived reports

Current as of: May 8, 2024

• Data courtesy of the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC).
• Check the Air Quality Health Index for air quality in your area.

Priority fires

There are no priority fires at the time of this report.

Interagency mobilization

Canada is at national preparedness level 1, indicating conditions are not favourable to support significant wildland fire activity in most agencies and resource capability is adequate with little or no mobilization of resources occurring through the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre. Parks Canada and Alberta are at agency preparedness level 2, with all others at level 1.

The number of fires is well above average for this time of year, and well below the 10-year average for area burned for this time of year. At the time of this report there is no personnel, equipment or aircraft mobilized through the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre. There are multiple carry over fires from the 2023 fire season, wildland firefighters continue to work on extinguishing hotspots. The United States is at preparedness level 1, which indicates little to no mobilization of resources occurring.

Weekly Synopsis

In British Columbia there are fire restrictions across Cariboo, Northwest and Prince George Fire Centres. Alberta has fire bans and restrictions across the north, northwest, northeast, and around the central regions into the foothills of the province. Northwest Territories has extreme fire danger in the Dehcho and South Slave regions restricting campfires, fireworks, and other burning activities unless there is no other choice for food or warmth. Saskatchewan has fire bans and restrictions from Jans Bay south to North Battleford as well as in the Regional Municipality of Arborfield. New Brunswick has a province wide category 1 burning restriction. In Nova Scotia burning is only allowed between 7:00 pm and 8:00 across the province with the exception of Shellburne and Yarmouth Counties which burning is not allowed. Prince Edward Island requires burning permits based on the daily Fire Weather Index.

Yukon, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador have no restrictions currently in place.

Heavy precipitation fell May 7and 8 in southeastern Alberta and southwestern Saskatchewan, with lighter amounts in northern Alberta and the western Northwest Territories. A low pressure area near the Arctic coast joined forces with a strong storm system in the northern USA, pulling moisture northward. Today, the USA system is weakening and dropping further south, and the Northwest Territories low is moving east, pulling apart the band of rain. Dry conditions cover the rest of Canada, although a system crossing the Great Lakes is spreading rain through extreme southern Ontario and Quebec, and will begin affecting the Atlantic Provinces late in the day.

Prognosis

The first 2024 period of summery fire weather develops in western Canada over the next few days. Temperatures will warm into the 25-30C range in many areas with low humidity, providing quick drying of surface vegetation. While temperatures will be cooler from northern Manitoba eastward, generally dry conditions cover most of this region, although southern parts of the Atlantic Provinces will receive showers a couple days apart. A storm system moving through the central Northwest Territories Friday and Saturday (May 10-11), will increase wind in the southern part of the Territories, northeastern British Columbia, and the Prairie Provinces. Following that, weak Pacific storm systems moving inland will increase the chance of lightning in much of western Canada over the weekend and into the week of May 12. With northeastern British Columbia, northwestern Alberta, and the southern Northwest Territories still having intense drought, and many other regions drying for a few days, lightning in much of western Canada’s forests could begin to trigger fires, with rapid growth possible in some regions.

Weekly graphs (current as of: May 8, 2024)