On Saturday, the Canadian military was ready to fight the unprecedented and deadly heat wave in the west of the country and the United States.
Some 177 fires were active Saturday morning in the province of British Columbia, 70% of which were probably triggered by lightning, according to the latest report from local authorities.
This western province, with a usually humid and temperate climate, saw the thermometer race a week ago and reach unbearable temperatures.
At least 719 people have died there since the start of this heat wave, three times more than normal, according to local health authorities.
On the other side of the border, the northwest of the United States also found itself under this “heat dome”, a rare climatic phenomenon aggravated, according to experts, by global warming.
At least 94 people have died in the US state of Oregon and around 20 in Washington state, according to the latest official reports.
Under the combined effect of the electric climate and the drought, the outbreaks of fire multiply on both sides of the border and progress rapidly.
350 soldiers
The small village of Lytton, 250 km northeast of Vancouver, has become the symbol of this crisis: after breaking the historic record for heat in Canada, with 49.6 degrees Celsius, it found itself under threat. flames.
Its 250 inhabitants were evacuated in an emergency, and the disaster finally devastated 90% of its territory.
One of its inhabitants, Jeff Chapman, explained to the English channel CBC, having watched, helplessly, his parents die in the disaster, when an electric pole fell on their shelter.
Even as the mercury began to fall back on the coast, the heat wave spread inland from Canada to Ontario, and millions of people remained on heatwave alert on Saturday.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau convened several ministers on Friday to provide central government assistance to the affected provinces.
In particular, Ottawa announced the opening of an operations center in Edmonton, western Canada, where 350 troops will stand ready to provide logistical assistance “across the region as needed.”
Acknowledging the drought, Public Safety Minister Bill Blair anticipated a “long and difficult summer” on the fires.
Pyrocumulus
In recent days, the situation has worsened by the appearance of a rare phenomenon: pyrocumulus, stormy clouds that form above a source of intense heat. As these in turn generate lightning, they facilitate the creation of other braziers.
The thunderstorms that have formed over the provinces of British Columbia and Alberta have generated more than 700,000 lightning between Wednesday and Thursday, calculated the Finnish company Vaisala, a specialist in environmental measures.
“I can only stress that the risk of fire is currently extreme in almost all parts of British Columbia and I urge British Columbians to listen carefully to authorities and follow directions,” he said. begged the Premier of the province John Horgan.
More than 500 lightning bolts were also recorded on Friday in California, where forest fires devoured more than 15,000 hectares, including in a tourist area which was preparing to welcome many visitors for the National Day long weekend of the 4th July.
Authorities in California have ordered evacuations along Lake Shasta, an area popular with campers south of the Oregon border, and around 40 structures have been destroyed, including at least half a dozen homes near Lakehead.
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