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The number of wildfires burning in Canada’s top energy-producing province of Alberta is on the rise again, hurting air quality across the region and threatening oil and gas production.
The province had 76 active wildfires, up from 71 on Friday, with 23 burning out of control, according to provincial data on Monday. Smoke from the blazes — which are most active in the central and western parts of the province — was set to drift south to Calgary on Monday and yesterday, worsening the air quality into the “high risk” category, according to Environment Canada.
Some relief is expected in the coming days, with rain and cooler weather set to help firefighters, Alberta Wildfire spokeswoman Melissa Story said at a press conference Monday. The amount of land burned has risen to a record 1.4 million hectares in the province, she said.
The epicentre of the fires is a major region for natural gas and light oil production, and infernos in the area earlier this year shut down significant amounts of output. On Saturday, TC Energy Corp. shut two compressor stations that were part of its NOVA Gas Transmission system and a gas-storage facility that were close to wildfires in the Edson area. Cooler weather and rain is expected
“If you look at Western Canada, it’s completely covered by the smoke,” Gerald Cheng, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, said in a media briefing. Edmonton, Alberta, and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, also reported unhealthy air quality, and the haze could remain over parts of both provinces into today, Cheng said. Across Canada, there are currently 431 wildfires burning, of which 208 are out of control, Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair told reporters. Nearly 30 000 people remain evacuated and 47 000 square kilometres of land have been burned, he said.
“This now qualifies, unfortunately, as Canada’s worst wildfire season of the 21st century,” Blair said. – Bloomberg
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