The Wildfires Thread

[China]

WestJet, Air Canada face criticism over Yellowknife flights as wildfires rage

 

As wildfires burn across the Northwest Territories, Canada's major airlines are facing criticism that not enough is being done to accommodate passengers hoping to flee the region or change their flights.

 

Earlier this week, Yellowknife declared a state of emergency, and late Wednesday, residents were ordered to evacuate the city as wildfires approached. 

 

Meanwhile, Air Canada is waiving change fees for passengers who want to reschedule flights to Yellowknife that were set to depart this month.

 

But several people have blasted the airline on social media, complaining that it has spiked fares to as high as $4,665 for flights departing the city. 

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

River Road East Fire explodes to just under 12 thousand acres

 

Officials have released new information on the River Road East Fire that started Friday.

 

The fire is at 11,951 acres with no containment.

 

 

Norther Rockies Team 1 is scheduled to take command at 6 p.m. Saturday.

 

A Red Cross shelter is set up at Church on the Move located at 300 Clayton Street in Plains for all displaced residents and livestock can be dropped off at the fairgrounds.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

18 People Killed in Greek Wildfire May Be Migrants, Authorities Say

 

Greek firefighters recovered the bodies of 18 people on Tuesday who they believe may be migrants in the Evros region of northern Greece, close to the city of Alexandroupolis, where a major wildfire was burning for a fourth day.

 

The charred remains were found near a shack on the border of the Dadia Forest, a spokesman for the Greek fire service, Yiannis Artopios, said in a televised briefing. There have been no reports of missing people in the area, so the authorities said they were examining the possibility that the dead “had entered the country illegally,” Mr. Artopios said.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

Greece blaze is 'largest wildfire ever recorded in EU'

 

A forest blaze in Greece is "the largest wildfire ever recorded in the EU" and the bloc is mobilising nearly half its firefighting air wing to tackle it, a European Commission spokesman said Tuesday.

 

Firefighters have been battling the flames for 11 days in northeastern Greece which have killed at least 20 people and pose an "ecological disaster".

 

Eleven planes and one helicopter from the EU fleet have been sent to help Greece counter the fire, north of the city of Alexandroupoli, along with 407 firefighters, spokesman Balazs Ujvari said.

 

The EU's civil protection service said the fire has burnt over 810 square kilometres (310 square miles) -- an area bigger than New York City.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

Wildfire in Tiger Island Louisiana burns on after leveling 30,000 acres of land

 

One of the largest wildfires in Louisiana history is continuing to spread and threaten rural communities.

 

The Tiger Island Fire, which started about five miles east of the Texas state line, doubled in size over the weekend, growing to more than 33,000 acres – accounting for more acres of burned land than the state usually has in an entire year. It was 50% contained on Tuesday.

 

“This is not done. We expect a dry September. So we got to be prepared for this and all work together until the rain comes ... and then we can get back to life," said Mike Strain, the commissioner for Louisiana’s Department of Agriculture and Forestry.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

Thousands of federal firefighters face a looming pay cut. How much is up to Congress

 

Federal wildland firefighters were on the frontlines of some of the harshest wildfires to hit the U.S. and Canada this summer. But as Congress is inching towards its Sept. 30 deadline to fund the government, those firefighters stand to lose half their salaries.

 

And whether or not the government makes a deal, rent is due Oct. 1.

 

That's because last year, the bipartisan infrastructure law provided a temporary pay bump to these federal first responders of $20,000 or 50%, whichever was less. The money is estimated by officials to last about two years and was retroactive to October 2021.

 

"We're going to finish this season out, but there's going to be a lot of people who don't come back," predicted Rachel Granberg, a wildland firefighter in Washington State. "Even with that infrastructure money, people are still leaving and it's only going to get worse once that money runs out."

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

Man who claimed wildfires were a government conspiracy was setting them himself

 

Brian Paré, 38, is a conspiracy theorist who posted claims that the government was deliberately setting wildfires to make people believe in climate change. But he was setting them himself, he ultimately admitted, forcing some 500 homes to be evacuated near Chapais, 265 miels northwest of Quebec City.

 

He pleaded guilty to 13 counts of arson, and one count of arson with disregard for human life, on Monday. Prosecutor Marie-Philippe Charron, recounting agreed-upon facts: "On May 31 at 8:30 p.m., the town of Chapais issued a mandatory evacuation order due to the raging fires, in particular the fire at Lake Cavan as well as the airport fire, two fires that are included in the charges and were cause by the accused."

 

873 hectares of forest were burned by the Lake Cavan blaze; it was obviously arson, CBC News reports, because he five blazes, over the courts of a month, were statistically improbable and started three days after a law, citing climate change, banned open fires in the woods. Moreover, Paré was seen in the area, contacted as a potential witness, and "demonstrated a certain interest in fires" during the interview which led investigators to think they might have found their man.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

Deadly Texas wildfire torches 1 million acres – the largest blaze in state history – as more infernos rage

 

Catastrophic wildfires ripping across the Texas Panhandle have killed at least two people and threaten to destroy more homes, cattle and livelihoods as the biggest inferno in state history engulfs more land every minute.

 

The Smokehouse Creek Fire has now torched more than 1 million acres in Texas alone, making it the largest fire on record in the state. The blaze has also charred more than 31,500 acres in Oklahoma as of Wednesday afternoon, that state’s forestry service said. Altogether, the fire is among largest in the Lower 48 since reliable record-keeping began in the 1980s.

 

The inferno is one of three fires burning in the Texas Panhandle – with no end in sight.

 

Smokehouse Creek fire is largest on record in Texas

The massive fire has spread more than a million acres across the Texas Panhandle and Oklahoma.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

Texas wildfire smoke heading for Minnesota Thursday

 

Smoke plume likely to drift over the state; smoky smell possible on the ground

 

[China]

Gov. Abbott says Texas wildfires may have destroyed up to 500 structures

 

The Smokehouse Creek fire, which began Monday, has burned about 1,700 square miles (4,400 square kilometers), killed at least two people, and left a charred landscape of scorched prairie, dead cattle and burned-out homes. The cause of the fire remains under investigation, although strong winds, dry grass and unseasonably warm weather fed them.

 

“When you look at the damages that have occurred here it’s just gone, completely gone nothing left but ashes on the ground,” Abbott said during a news conference in Borger, Texas, adding that a preliminary assessment found 400 to 500 structures had been destroyed.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[The Evil Genius]

Should have raked more. 

[China]

 

[China]

7 human-caused wildfires reported in central B.C. in 1 afternoon

 

Wildfire crews are battling an out-of-control wildfire in the Cariboo region of British Columbia — one of seven human-caused blazes reported in the province's central Interior on Saturday afternoon.

 

The Burgess Creek fire has ballooned overnight, growing from 0.5 square kilometres to 16 square kilometres in size on Sunday. It is burning about 50 kilometres south of Quesnel, a city about 415 kilometres northeast of Vancouver.

 

The fire is sending a thick plume of smoke into the air that is visible from Quesnel, Williams Lake and Highway 97, according to B.C. Wildfire Service (BCWS) information officer Madison Dahl.

 

However, Dahl said Sunday afternoon that no homes or buildings are threatened at this time, and firefighters were able to more accurately map the size of the wildfire on Sunday morning.

"Due to the incredibly dry conditions and the strong winds we had [Saturday], we did see an an increase in the size of that wildfire this morning," she told CBC News.

 

The Cariboo Regional District has issued an evacuation alert covering more than 32 square kilometres in the Burgess Creek area.

 

Click on the link for the full article

 

I guess fire season has begun.

[Skins24]

50 minutes ago, China said:

I guess fire season has begun.

Pretty much on par with last year...

That heavy smoke in early June and over the summer came from eastern Canada, but the smoke we saw in April and May was from western.

 

Fortunately, doesn't look like much from those ^^ right now

https://fire.airnow.gov/