We have been experiencing the impact of climate change on the District this past week. The unseasonably-high temperatures have warmed the lakes and rivers much to our enjoyment but have also dried out our forests that surround us, creating the perfect conditions for major forest fires.
Almost hourly updates on fires in Alberta, Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Quebec, and more recently, northern Ontario, tell a sad story. Thousands have been evacuated from their communities. Hundreds of homes have been lost to these intense fires. Halifax was on the verge of needing evacuation.
We might sit in our chairs and gloat that it couldn’t happen in our communities, but we would be failing to note that two fires touched off loss of lives in the Rainy River District. The Dance fire of 1933 claimed many lives, buildings, and homes. Earlier, at the turn of the 19th century, a fire that originated near Rainy River travelled all the way northeast, consuming large tracts of land, taking lives and buildings.
Under a pact with the provinces, fire fighters from one province travel and assist other provinces in fighting forest fires. Often fire fighters and aircraft move across the Canada–U.S. border to assist in forest fires. With so many fires across Canada this year, fire fighters are arriving from around the world. France just announced that 100 fire fighters would be joining the fire fighters in Quebec.
On Monday, it was noted in national papers that over 700 firefighters from as far away as New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa were making their way to Canada to join the battles. They join over 500 international firefighters, incident co-ordinators and other workers who are battling fires in Alberta. Emergency preparedness minister Bill Blair was quoted as saying 500 Canadian Military personnel have been assigned to fight fires in Alberta, and more were being trained to combat fires in Nova Scotia and Quebec. Six water bombers were dispatched from Montana to help with the fires in Nova Scotia. Canada does not have the resources to tackle this new climate change crisis.
The fires across Canada have stretched Canada’s resources. The size of the fires and their proximity to local communities force the question “How do we protect those communities? After the fire in Alberta that burned through Fort McMurray, emergency planners looked at creating wide spaces around communities that are barren of trees, to hold back fires. In smaller communities, it is planned to have homes with sprinklers on roofs to prevent fire damage.
It is an expensive endeavour with communities. As a national policy to make communities safer from wildfires, the provincial and federal governments need to become more involved. Small communities and even larger cities need to map out their defences. It all takes money. This should be the year to see a national program implemented to handle this new climate change challenge.
