“Sobering.”
That is how the federal Minister of Natural Resources describes the outlook for the wildfire season in Canada.
Jonathan Wilkinson says the wildfire forecast shows higher than normal wildfire activity though June and without a break in the hot, dry weather it looks like it will continue to be unusually high through the summer.
He says every province will need to be on high alert.
According to federal officials, climate change is resulting in more and more intense wildfires.
So far this year there have been 2,214 wildfires in Canada with 413 fires currently burning.
Over 26 thousand Canadians have been evacuated from their homes.
Wilkinson says there has been 10 times the total normal amount of land burned so far this year, a record three point three million hectares.
***With files from Wendy Gray