Canada's wildfire crisis: By the numbers

Canada's worst wildfire season ever

Mike Flannigan, a veteran wildfire researcher at Thompson Rivers University, told Axios' Andrew Freedman that this year is Canada's worst fire season since reliable record-keeping began in 1959.

In a typical year, fires burn an area about the size of Massachusetts. But this year, that area is already close to the size of South Carolina, Flannigan said.

"If you live in downtown New York or Toronto or Washington, your place isn't going to be burned down from wildland fire," Flannigan said. "But smoke from fires thousands of miles away can make your life miserable."

The big picture: Because of their size, locations and behavior, many of the fires are not expected to be extinguished anytime soon — whether by firefighters or a major shift in weather conditions — until after summer ends.

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https://www.axios.com/2023/06/30/canada-wildfire-crisis-active-acres-record