Despite current high risk, this year's wildfire season tracking close to normal, statistics show

This year's wildfire season is less severe so far than the record-setting 2023 season, but the risk for new fires is still high in parts of B.C., into the Northwest Territories and through a swath of the Prairies.

"We are now into the heart of our fire season and we are tracking carefully a number of fires across the country and the expansion of general wildfire activity," said Deryck Trehearn, director-general of Public Safety Canada's government operations centre.

The Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre was reporting 577 active fires as of Thursday, including 402 out of control.

Federal officials say there is a response to try and douse the flames for about half the active fires. The rest are being monitored but are too far away from communities or infrastructure to warrant a response at this time.

Nearly 1.3 million hectares have burned, which is close to the 10-year average for this time of year. In contrast, by mid-July last year, almost 10 million hectares had already burned, including 1.3 million in B.C. alone.

Last year was Canada's worst wildfire season on record, based on a number of metrics, including the total area burned. Before August was over, more than 5,500 reported fires had burned approximately 13.4 million hectares.

There are currently about 150 active wildfires across B.C., a figure that's holding steady following an eruption of wildfire activity this week.

An update posted by the B.C. Wildfire Service said a recent heat wave with little or no rain in many areas has left forests extremely dry and susceptible to new fires.

That heat wave extends into Alberta and Saskatchewan. Another prolonged stretch of hot, dry weather is expected to blanket much of the Prairies starting next week, raising the fire risk in those areas. 

Alberta has been experiencing lightning storms and gusting winds along with temperatures into the 30s. The province has about 100 active wildfires, according to the Alberta Wildfire dashboard.

The largest fire in the province, estimated at more than 45,000 hectares, forced the evacuation earlier this week of 981 residents of Garden River, roughly 800 kilometres north of Edmonton.

A wildfire near a stretch of the Manitoba-Saskatchewan boundary has prompted evacuation warnings in some communities.

People in Flin Flon, Man., and in Creighton and Denare Beach in Saskatchewan have been told to prepare emergency bags and be ready to leave on short notice.

The fire near Creighton is not contained, and town officials say on social media that a fresh-air centre is being set up for vulnerable people because of smoke.

Denare Beach says on its website there are concerns that people in the village may lose highway access and experience power outages.

Creighton municipal officials are asking people to conserve water, saying sprinklers have been set up for some town infrastructure as a precaution.

The ongoing drought in the Northwest Territories has intensified, and Environment Canada said things are drier than usual in Yukon.

The last three months have seen higher than normal temperatures across the country.