The thick smoke and haze that turned the New York City skyline orange in early June and brought some of the worst air quality levels the country has seen in decades was spawned by a series of wildfires burning in Canada. The fires are still burning, with smoke going on to affect states like Minnesota, Illinois and Michigan as well as swaths of the Northeast.
The fires, which began in early June and have affected Ontario and Quebec, have impacted Canadians and Americans alike. Canadian media reported that 14,000 people in Quebec were evacuated earlier in June. In Canada, the fires caused thick smoke that led to air quality warnings. In the Northeast, there was a similar effect: Cities like New York and Philadelphia were blanketed in a thick haze that eventually traveled south to Baltimore and Washington, D.C.
Later in June, the smoke affected the Midwest, with air quality alerts in cities like Detroit, Minneapolis and Chicago.
As forecasts anticipated, the smoke in the U.S. has fluctuated, but the fires in Canada are still burning. Here's what to know about the ongoing wildfires.
Are the Canadian wildfires under control?
According to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, there are more than 510 active fires across the country. According to a map updated daily by the center, these fires are burning from coast to coast, with fires heavily concentrated in Canada's eastern and western provinces, on both of the country's East and West Coasts.
Of those fires, 256 were labeled "out of control" as of July 1. Only 159 are marked as "under control," while another 98 are "being held." A fire being held means it is not moving but still not considered under control, and its status can fluctuate.
According to the center, there have been 3,097 fires this year, resulting in about 8.2 million hectares (about 31,660 square miles) of land being burned.
Why are the Canadian wildfires out of control?
As CBS News previously reported, harsh weather conditions in Canada are fueling the fires and making it harder for firefighters to combat the flames.
The country is currently at "national preparedness level 5," meaning Canada has committed all national resources to fight wildfires across the country. International firefighters are also flying in: Chris Stockdale, a wildland fire research officer with the Canadian Forest Officer, told CBS News that when smoke from earlier fires affected some central and western states, "international liaison officers" from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa would be flying in to help fight the fires.
When will the Canadian wildfires end?
This isn't likely to go away. The Canadian government recently issued an updated outlook for the country's wildfire season, which usually stretches from May through October. The most recent outlook, published earlier in June, said that the wildfire season this year is already "severe" and warned that current predictions "indicate the potential for continued higher-than-normal fire activity across most of the country throughout the 2023 wildland fire season due to ongoing drought and long-range forecasts for warm temperatures."
TRENDING
- Arrest: Farmers' Market shooting threat
- Arson suspected in Great Falls car fire
- INFO: Montana State Fair in Great Falls
- Tax rebates being sent to Montanans
- RECENT OBITUARIES
FOLLOW KRTV: Instagram | TikTok | Twitter
