As Trump threatens wildfire smoke prices, Canada looks to reduce fire risk

While U.S. President Donald Trump threatens taxes on wildfire smoke drifting south, Canadian fire experts say large forest fires are inevitable.

Last week, Trump criticized Canadian fire officials and said the country was “poisoning” US air. He suggested Canada you may have to pay.

But experts say Canada’s worsening fire seasons reflect a harsher reality: not every blaze, or smoke from it, can be stopped.

“To say you’re going to have to put out very large fires like this is like trying to stop a hurricane,” said Martin Girardin, a forest ecologist with the Canadian Forest Service. “It’s unstoppable.”

As of Monday, more than 900 fires were burning across Canada and more than 3.7 million hectares have burned by 2026, according to the report. Canadian Wildland Fire Information System dashboard. The fires have caused significant damage to the Namaygoosisagagun and Whitewater Lake First Nations in northwestern Ontario, and have forced the evacuation of many other communities.

Girardin said climate change is helping to drive more severe fire seasons by bringing warmer temperatures and drier conditions, and many forests also have plenty of fuel, including mature trees and other organic matter.

Mathew Conte, the Jasper, Alta., fire chief, said the fires are getting stronger and moving faster as rural communities expand.

“Since we are developing more in this forest, it is clear that these communities and buildings will be greatly affected by forest fires,” said Conte.

Across Canada, researchers, fire experts and indigenous firefighters are emphasizing FireSmart practices to protect homes, firefighters to protect cities and cultural burning to restore land.

FireSmart focuses on homes and their surroundings

Ryan Moreside, FireSmart BC’s wildfire prevention program co-ordinator, said more attention should be shifted from fighting fires to helping communities prepare before they hit.

“We do the best we can with what we have, and ultimately, Mother Nature says what’s going to happen,” Moreside said.

FireSmart, a wildfire prevention organization founded in 1993, has programs in every state and territory. It promotes practices such as safe wood storage and the use of fire-resistant construction materials and home inspections.

By 2024, about 30 percent of Jasper burned in wildfires. Conte said one important lesson is the importance of making homes and neighborhoods stronger. He said that the burnt area consists of many houses close to coniferous trees, which are solidly built and have burning roofs.

“In the situation we had, if you do a good job at FireSmarting in your area, but your neighbor isn’t there, it usually won’t help,” he said. “Your environment is only as strong as your weakest link.”

In rebuilding, Conte said Jasper is focusing on public education, strong protection of critical infrastructure and tools like sprinkler systems.

Firefighters set up a barricade

Firebreaks, or fuel cuts, are areas outside the community where trees and other vegetation are removed or reduced by logging or prescribed burning.

Whitehorse has been working with fireguard from 2020while the Forest Resource Improvement Association of Alberta is launching a community fire protection plan by 2023.

The Bow Valley Community Fireguard, sponsored by the Alberta corporation, is located outside of Canmore, Alta., near Banff National Park. Canmore Fire Chief Shawn Polley said firefighters are nearing completion.

How Canmore tries to avoid the end of the Jasper wildfire

The Jasper wildfire in 2024 destroyed a third of the town, and now other communities in the Rocky Mountains are trying to avoid the same fate. As CBC’s Jo Horwood reports, experts say severe weather is on the rise, forcing Canmore residents to take measures to prevent wildfire damage.

Polley said firefighters help remove fuel, create safe areas for firefighters and contain fires.

“Wildfire will happen, but what you are doing allows us to have small dense or mature forests available for burning, to reduce the fire,” he said.

Firefighters are not meant to stop a wildfire completely, but to reduce the power of the fire as it approaches the community and provide workers with a safe place to work.

Cultural burning draws on the management of Aboriginal fires

Amy Cardinal Christianson, director of fire management for the Indigenous Leadership Initiative, said Indigenous involvement in fire management is critical to helping communities and the environment survive and recover from fires.

Ritual burning, where Aboriginal people deliberately set fire to an area, reflects long-standing knowledge and practice. A side benefit, Christianson said, is removing old vegetation and reducing fire risk.

“Many of the burnt things we were going to do around the communities or places we were bringing,” he said.

He said interest in cultural cremation has grown since then BC record fire seasons in 2017 and 2018, but long-term funding for management programs remains limited.

Christianson said FireSmart homes and firefighters need a long-term plan to take care of the land.

“We have to start looking at this very big and very holistic view of the world and realize that the vegetation is going to grow,” he said.

He highlighted fire stewardship at the Yunesit’in First Nation, working with the Gathering Voices Society at the University of British Columbia and burning rituals every April and October. from 2019.

The key to output is long-term change

While these efforts can help reduce damage and protect lives, experts say they cannot completely eliminate the risk – especially as climate change makes fire seasons more intense. Ultimately, for researchers like Girardin, the key is to reverse the trend of climate change.

“The only thing we have the power to control is our CO2 emissions, and we just don’t do it. It’s not enough anyway,” said Girardin.