Due to the rapid growth of some fires and the need to react quickly, it has left some people wondering: how did we get here?
There are currently more than 440 fires burning in Canada as of Thursday, some of which officials say were started naturally while others are still under investigation.
CTVNews.ca asked what questions you had about the wildfires. Topics ranged from how wildfires start to wanting to understand the process of investigating fires, and what happened to a beloved fire safety mascot.
HOW DO WILDFIRES START?
The origins of wildfires can be difficult to understand but one thing is certain: climate change is a factor.
The warming of the planet is not only contributing to drier and hotter weather but some research shows it can increase lightning strikes, Michael Flannigan, professor of wildland fire at Thompson Rivers University in British Columbia, said.
“The research suggests we will see more lightning in a warmer world. We don’t have enough really good data to say for sure that’s happening in Canada yet, but there are places in the world like Russia where the data is suggesting that is happening,” Flannigan told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview Wednesday.
Lightning is caused when warm air rises in the water cycle and liquid particles “bump into” ice particles, creating an electrical charge, Flannigan said.
Climate change is increasing the temperature of the Earth, which in turn raises warm air that then mixes with cool air, creating an “unstable” atmosphere, he said.
“Most of these (particles) are negatively charged, but some especially from the top of the thunderstorm — what we call the anvil — are positively charged,” he said. “And these are interesting because they often travel horizontally and then down to the Earth.”
Lightning typically hits tall things, whether it be a tree or a home. If it hits a tree in northern B.C., it will travel down to the ground, sometimes leaving the tree intact.
Fire investigator Jeff Henricks documenting a scene. (Contributed)
“The lightning goes down, and it smoulders and catches fire,” Flannigan said. “If it’s rainy or damp, it just smoulders for a while. If it’s hot, dry and windy, it can start spreading.”
What can sometimes happen in the vast Canadian landscape is the ground could smoulder for weeks going unnoticed, until it’s a substantial blaze.
Lightning rods used on homes can direct lightning away from forests but Flannigan says adding one to each building in the country would likely be too costly.
As of right now, Flannigan says lightning strikes cause about 50 per cent of all wildfires, while human behaviour is responsible for the other half, but the odds are likely to shift.
“There are research papers out there suggesting that we’ll see a doubling of lightning-caused fires in the future,” he said. “We’re seeing it already this year… perhaps this is a signal that the future is here a bit early.”
WHO CAN BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR WILDFIRES?
According to Flannigan, key ways humans can start fires include ATVs (when the hot muffler connects with dry grass), railways, power lines and campfires.
To understand the origins of a wildfire, investigators are called in to trace the evidence left behind by flames, also referred to as “fire pattern indicators” or flame “scars,” to determine how and where a fire started.
“Obtaining as much information on the scene is very important to determining the origin of a wildfire,” Jeff Henricks, a former Alberta wildfire investigator now consultant, told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview on Thursday. “We will seek to obtain early photos of the fire, interview first responders or witnesses, and document what they saw.”
Henricks says this process can take several days depending on the size and complexity of a fire.
He often leaves a fire scene with his protective equipment completely covered in soot and ash, he says.
“Once we have determined an origin, we can then seek out the cause of the wildfire, and again, this can take considerable time as well,” Henricks said. “(For) example, if we found evidence in our ignition area of a metallic-like substance, we may need to submit that to a lab for analysis.”
If the investigation determines a person caused the wildfire, more research is needed to figure out who that person is. Henricks says each jurisdiction in Canada has different fines for starting a wildfire.
The entire process from investigating the cause of a fire to charging a person can take several years.
“Few wildfires are malicious in nature and many are a result of unfortunate circumstances,” he said.
WHAT MEASURES ARE GOVERNMENTS TAKING TO ADDRESS WILDFIRES?
Mitigating wildfire destruction on communities is something all governments across Canada are working on, efforts that are aided and overseen by Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair.
“Although the primary response to these types of events rests with the provinces and territories, we are in continued contact with partners across Canada, (and) maintain a whole-of-government approach to supporting communities affected by wildfires,” Blair’s office told CTVNews.ca in an email.
According to the department, the federal government has provided funds for displaced Canadians, worked with international partners and created a fund to hire more firefighters in communities.
A spokesperson from the province of B.C. told CTVNews.ca in an email that the government has invested “significant” resources into the B.C. Wildfire Service and addressing climate change.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau listens to Col. Marie-Christine Harvey explain the military operations battling wildfires, Wednesday, June 14, 2023 at CFB Bagotville in Saguenay, Que. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot)
“Changes for the 2023 season include improvements for identification and suppression of wildfires, deployment of resources, and strengthened partner relations,” the email reads.
CTVNews.ca did not receive responses from Yukon, Northwest Territories, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia or New Brunswick.
Saskatchewan’s Public Safety Agency (SPSA) has created ties with rural communities, Indigenous leaders and municipalities to improve the emergency preparedness for wildfires, a spokesperson said.
“These plans assess risks, identify hazards and vulnerable areas/populations, prioritize efforts to address these risks and help with wildfire suppression efforts … workshops and training on topics such as emergency management, emergency plan development and emergency operations centres,” a spokesperson from SPSA told CTVNews.ca in an email.
A spokesperson for Alberta’s wildfire management branch said education programs and public engagement sessions are “key” to preventing wildfires.
“One of the most effective prevention programs Alberta Wildfire administers is FireSmart, an actionable framework designed to mitigate the risk and impact of large uncontrollable wildfires near homes, communities, and critical infrastructure,” the spokesperson said.
WHAT HAPPENED TO SMOKEY BEAR?
FireSmart is Canada’s equivalent to the U.S. Forest Service — better known as the organization that created Smokey Bear.
Smokey is a mascot from the ’50s with a message of fire prevention and safety that was soon adopted in Canada. But FireSmart Canada program manager Magda Zachara says Canadians have their own wildfire icon.
“Ember the Fox is a FireSmart Canada mascot, Smokey the Bear is not and never was,” she told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview on Wednesday.
The two mascots also have different messages, Zachara said.
“Smokey the Bear is very much tied entirely to prevent a wildfire,” she said. “And we as FireSmart are really focused on the mitigation and risk reduction message.”
Some provinces still use the mascot to this day but as FireSmart Canada’s presence grew so did Ember’s recognition.
“If you travel around the country you will still see Smokey being used in certain provinces, or other mascots. In fact, Alberta has their own mascot and Quebec has a totally different mascot,” Zachara said. “So there are numerous other mascots out there as far as wildfires (campaigns) are concerned.”
VICTORIA – British Columbia Premier David Eby has announced his government has committed to earlier and enhanced pensions for wildland firefighters, saying the province owes them a “deep debt of gratitude” for their efforts in battling recent fire seasons.
Eby says in a statement the province and the BC General Employees’ Union have reached an agreement-in-principle to “enhance” pensions for firefighting personnel employed directly by the BC Wildfire Service.
It says the change will give wildland firefighters provisions like those in other public-safety careers such as ambulance paramedics and corrections workers.
The statement says wildfire personnel could receive their earliest pensions up to five years before regular members of the public service pension plan.
The province and the union are aiming to finalize the agreement early next year with changes taking effect in 2026, and while eligibility requirements are yet to be confirmed, the statement says the “majority” of workers at the BC Wildfire Service would qualify.
Union president Paul Finch says wildfire fighters “take immense risks and deserve fair compensation,” and the pension announcement marks a “major victory.”
“This change will help retain a stable, experienced workforce, ready to protect our communities when we need them most,” Finch says in the statement.
About 1,300 firefighters were employed directly by the wildfire service this year. B.C. has increased the service’s permanent full-time staff by 55 per cent since 2022.
About 350 firefighting personnel continue to battle more than 200 active blazes across the province, with 60 per cent of them now classified as under control.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
MONTREAL – AtkinsRéalis Group Inc. says it has signed a deal with U.K. rail infrastructure owner Network Rail to help upgrade and digitize its signalling over the next 10 years.
Network Rail has launched a four-billlion pound program to upgrade signalling across its network over the coming decade.
The company says the modernization will bring greater reliability across the country through a mixture of traditional signalling and digital control.
AtkinsRéalis says it has secured two of the eight contracts awarded.
The Canadian company formerly known as SNC-Lavalin will work independently on conventional signalling contract.
AtkinsRéalis will also partner with Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles, S.A.(CAF) in a new joint venture on a digital signalling contract.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
In an era of increased strike activity and union power, labour experts say it’s not surprising to see more calls for government intervention in certain sectors like transportation.
What’s new, experts say, is the fact that the government isn’t jumping to enact back-to-work legislation.
Instead, the federal labour minister has recently directed the Canada Industrial Labour Board to intervene in major disputes — though the government was spared the choice of stepping in over a potential strike at Air Canada after a tentative deal was reached on Sunday.
Brock University labour professor Larry Savage says that for decades, companies in federally regulated sectors such as airlines, railways and ports essentially relied on government intervention through back-to-work legislation to end or avoid work stoppages.
“While this helped to avert protracted strikes, it also undermined free and fair collective bargaining. It eroded trust between management and the union over the long term, and it created deep-seated resentment in the workplace,” he argued.
Barry Eidlin calls such intervention a “Canadian tradition.”
“Canadian governments, both federal and provincial, have been amongst the most trigger-happy governments … when it comes to back-to-work legislation,” said Eidlin, an associate professor of sociology at McGill University.
Savage said the use of back-to-work legislation peaked in the 1980s, but its decline since then had less to do with government policy than the fact strikes became less common as unions’ bargaining power softened.
But since the Supreme Court upheld the right to strike in 2015, Savage says the government appears more reluctant to use back-to-work legislation.
Eidlin agrees.
“The bar for infringing on the right to strike by adopting back-to-work legislation got a lot higher,” he said.
However, the experts say the federal government appears to have found a workaround.
In August, Canadian National Railway Co. and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd. locked out more than 9,000 workers — but federal labour minister Steve MacKinnon soon stepped in, asking the Canada Industrial Relations Board to order them to return and order binding arbitration, which it did.
The move by the government — using Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code — is “highly controversial,” said Savage.
Section 107 of the code says the minister “may do such things as to the minister seem likely to maintain or secure industrial peace and to promote conditions favourable to the settlement of industrial disputes or differences and to those ends the minister may refer any question to the board or direct the board to do such things as the minister deems necessary.”
“The reason why it’s a concerning workaround is because there’s no Parliamentary debate. There’s no vote in the House of Commons,” Savage said.
Not long after the rail work stoppage, the government was called upon to intervene in the looming strike by Air Canada pilots. The airline said that a government directive for binding arbitration would be needed if it couldn’t reach a deal ahead of the strike.
However, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the government would only intervene if it became clear a negotiated agreement wasn’t possible.
“I know every time there’s a strike, people say, ‘Oh, you’ll get the government to come in and fix it.’ We’re not going to do that,” said Trudeau on Friday.
The airline and the union representing its pilots reached a tentative deal on Sunday.
Though Air Canada was asking for the same treatment as the rail companies, Eidlin said the Liberals appeared to recognize that would have been an unpopular move politically.
Since the rail dispute, the NDP ripped up its agreement to support the minority Liberals, and Eidlin thinks the government’s intervention was one of the reasons for the decision.
“That really left them with this minority government that’s much more fragile. And so I think they have a much more delicate balancing act politically,” he said.
Section 107 was never intended as a way for governments to bypass Parliament and end strikes “simply by sending an email” to the labour board, said David J. Doorey, an associate professor of labour and employment law at York University, in an email.
For the Liberals today, Doorey said using Section 107 to end the rail work stoppage was much simpler than back-to-work legislation — in part because Parliament was not in session, but also because the Liberals hold a minority government and support for back-to-work legislation from the Conservatives and the NDP would be far from guaranteed.
Eidlin is concerned that the government’s use of binding arbitration to end the rail work stoppage could set a precedent similar to what decades of back-to-work legislation did: removing the employer’s incentive to reach a deal in bargaining.
“This has a corrosive effect on collective bargaining,” he said.
The Teamsters union representing railworkers is challenging the government’s move.
The breadth of the government’s power under Section 107 is “something that the courts are going to have to decide,” Eidlin said.
If the courts rule in the government’s favour, the status quo could essentially return to the way it was before 2015, he said.
But Doorey believes the labour minister’s directive to the board to end the rail stoppage will be found to have violated the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The rail stoppage wasn’t the first time the federal government used these powers during a recent labour dispute.
When workers at B.C. ports went on strike last summer, then-federal labour minister Seamus O’Regan used the section to direct the board to determine whether a negotiated resolution was possible, and if not, to either impose a new agreement or impose final binding arbitration.
The last few years have really been a litmus test for that 2015 change, Eidlin said, as workers are increasingly unwilling to settle for sub-par collective agreements and employers “still have that back-to-work reflex.”
With an uptick in strike activity, “of course, there will be more interest in government intervention in labour disputes as a result,” said Savage.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:AC, TSX:CNR, TSX:CP)
Fire investigator Jeff Henricks documenting a scene. (Contributed)
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau listens to Col. Marie-Christine Harvey explain the military operations battling wildfires, Wednesday, June 14, 2023 at CFB Bagotville in Saguenay, Que. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot)
