Ottawa's Epiphany - It's Only Going to Get Worse

 


We're on our own now.

It used to be that, whenever Canada or the U.S. experienced terrible wildfires, the other would lend a hand. That was then. This is now.

The federal government says neither Canada nor the United States can lend each other any extra firefighters as they deal with one of the most severe wildfire seasons in recent memory.

Last year, Canada sent 529 front-line crew members, 62 supervisory teams and a number of aircraft to help the U.S. battle rampant wildfires in California and the Pacific Northwest.

This year, however, Ottawa says there's not enough personnel to go around — and that the problem is only going to get worse.

"There's two outlooks to think about: the first is the outlook for the rest of the summer, and the outlook for the rest of the summer is hot and dry," said James Johnston, a forest management and wildfire expert at Oregon State University.

"Then there's the outlook for summers to come, and that outlook is even hotter and drier."


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