This week across Canada there have been 244 new fires. The majority of this week’s fires have occurred in British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario (31%, 31%, and 23% respectively), however, the majority of the area burned was in the Northwest Territories (seen in this image) and Saskatchewan. Seasonal fire occurrence and area burned are both well above the 10-year average. In Northwest Territories, fire danger between Great Bear Lake and Great Slave Lake is “very high” to “extreme.” Nationally, fire danger is elevated in the Northwest Territories. The unsettled conditions that have lowered the fire danger in British Columbia are expected to return over the next week likely bringing lightning activity and with it a likelihood of more wildfires. The Northwest Territories is expected to remain at “very high” fire danger.
This natural-color satellite image was collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard the Aqua satellite on August 05, 2015. Actively burning areas, detected by MODIS’s thermal bands, are outlined in red.
Unlabeled version of the image
NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team. Caption: NASA/Goddard, Lynn Jenner
