Canada sends troops to eastern province as fire damage grows

Canada is sending troops and coast guard staff to its most east province on Thursday to face forest fires that have forced hundreds to evacuate, while the country undergoes one of its worst fire seasons ever recorded.

Forest fires in the vast country this year have already burned 7.1 million hectares (17.5 million acres) of land, an area about the size of Ireland, according to official data updated on Wednesday.

The figure corresponds to the amount of land burned in 1995, which was the second worst season recorded, with data dating back to 1983.

With hot and dry conditions which should persist in several regions and 730 active fires that burn, this year’s damage is almost sure to pass the toll two decades ago.

But 2025 is not on the right track to exceed 2023, when 17.3 million hectares (42.7 million acres) burned, an extraordinary toll that focused global attention to the growing threat of forest fires stimulated by climate change induced by humans.

Federal Minister of Federal Eleanor Olszewski said on Wednesday evening that she had approved an “urgent request” from the province of Newfoundland and Labrador to help fight forest fires.

“Help is on the road,” published Olszewski on X.

Provincial officials estimated the number of people affected by the last evacuation orders at around 900.

Hundreds of people also faced evacuation orders this week in the province of the west coast of British Columbia.

Federal troops were deployed to help make answers in several parts of the country this year, including the central provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, where high temperatures and dry conditions have led to a tumultuous spring.

In recent years, Canada has undergone warming at least twice as fast as the rest of the globe.

Linked to climate change, the rise in temperatures leads to a reduction in snow, shorter and softer winters, and previous summer conditions which are conducive to fires, according to experts.

© 2025 AFP