Federal officials are preparing for more intense forest fires this summer.
It is already considered the worst forest fire season on record.
There are 648 active fires, with more than half considered not under control.
Approximately 8.8 million hectares of land have burned.
Almost six hundred people remain evacuated because of fires, with some losing their homes and personal belongings.
Public Safety Minister Bill Blair expects those numbers to increase in the next two months.
“Drought conditions, when coupled with above-normal temperatures across most of the country, means that the risk of fire activity is going to remain very high throughout the majority of the summer,” says Blair.
This is also one of the hottest years on record.
Hot, dry conditions persist in many parts of the county.
“We quite frankly anticipated that would be a challenging year. But I think part of the challenge has been the remote areas in which many of these fires have taken place and the speed with which they have spread.”
Blair stops short of calling it a new normal.
He adds Canada has the necessary resources to deal with the fires, including deploying the military to assist with fires in Quebec.
More support is also coming from Mexico, with 100 firefighters deployed to British Columbia.
Another 100 arrived last month to assist Ontario FireRangers in the Red Lake area and northeastern Ontario.
Blair says additional support has also been received from the United States and South Korea.
“This is an addition to support we have already received from Chile, New Zealand, Costa Rica, Portugal, the European Union, France, South Africa and Spain.”
