The flames never stop spreading. On Saturday, July 15, Canadian authorities announced that 10 million hectares had burned across the country since the beginning of the year. This corresponds to the area of ​​Portugal. A sad record, the precedent dates back to 1989, when 7.3 million hectares went up in smoke, according to national figures from the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center (CIFFC).

Two firefighters died fighting these major fires, the first of which broke out in early May. As of Monday, July 18, 882 fires were still active in the country, including 579 that were considered out of control. Currently, the fires are mostly concentrated in the boreal forest, away from populated areas. “We are faced with numbers this year that are worse than our most pessimistic scenariosYan Boulanger, a researcher with Canada’s Department of Natural Resources, told AFP on Saturday, July 15.

Worse, the Canadian government given in early July The “This summer could continue to be a very difficult summer for wildfires in parts of the country” with a “There is still a possibility of above-average fire activity» until the end of the fire season in September.

forest areas

These fires have been triggered by a severe drought in much of the country since May, which has been attributed to months of rainfall well below the seasonal average. This encourages fires to flare up again in a country where most fires are of natural origin, mainly due to lightning strikes.

The vegetation therefore lacks water, it is saidwater stress“.”This creates unlimited fuel for the flames», emphasizes Cyril Bonnefoy, meteorologist at The Weather Channel*. Fortunately, the heat dome currently afflicting California is not impacting Canada at this time. “Even if there are places where it’s rather cool, it’s summer and it doesn’t rain», Nevertheless, the meteorologist points out. According to him, this heat dome could rise over British Columbia – in western Canada – by the end of July.

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On site, the flame fronts are sometimes several kilometers wide and are located in spaces that are only filled with vegetation and forest. “Your first problem is‘Identify the outbreak of the firesays Éric Florès, head of the Hérault fire and rescue service, who traveled to Quebec for three weeks in June to support his Canadian colleagues.

He explains that Canadian firefighters can sometimes allow the flames to spread by “They need to be monitored by making sure they don’t attack the facilities or get too close to human life.” because these fires are too complex to extinguish given their location. difficulties in access coupled withSeveral hundred fires break out in one day», against a “usually twenties” in May.

From now on, the fires spread to the whole country: no province was spared. “There are beds that are heavily laden with plant matter and where fires have never broken out. It burns in areas where there have never been fires.” adds Anthony Collin, researcher at the University of Lorraine and fire specialist.

A fire that feeds itself

One of the main difficulties lies in the operation of such lights. Specifically, the flames of the major fires create clouds of smoke and heat effects. This heat meets colder air on the ground and pushes the air mass toward the atmosphere. An internal low-pressure area then occurs, which leads to wind gusts. These themselves promote the spread of the flames. The fire is therefore self-sustaining without the fire brigade being able to do anything about it. Only the “flammable– i.e. the material to be burned on the ground – is not unlimited. “The flames can go up‘To 3 km/h is huge. It’s ten times faster than‘a classic harvest fire», decodes Anthony Collin.

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So much so that Canadians quickly found themselves penniless. In early June, Emmanuel Macron announced the deployment of one “hundred” of French firefighters in Canada. Since then they have taken turns. “I‘The ground access is very complex, an attack from the ground is hardly possible.”, observed Éric Florès immediately. The Canadians are therefore attacking them “Strips with Small Portable Pumps”carried in backpacks. “The first town was 250 kilometers away from where we were staying”also remembers the French firefighter whose mission was to protect a nearby Native American community.

And the Canadairs? “They don’t put out big fires», regrets Eric Flores. “On the other hand, thanks to drops, they can create a kind of impassable barrier for the flames‘preventive water», Anthony Collin completes his part. But otherwise,The emergency services are a bit helplessadds the latter. Unfortunately we are disarmed. It goes beyond humans“.

Unstoppable fires?

So what solutions? “The goal remains‘prevent the spread of incipient fires», says Eric Flores. According to him, Canadian firefighters are applying what he “French strategy». “This is the massive fight against small fires as soon as they start.». For mega fires that have already increased in size, “Nobody knows how to turn it off». “He does‘There is no specific technique.»

According to researcher Anthony Collin, there are two ways to hope that the lights will go away. Either “Flame front reaches favorable geographic area” where the fire cannot spread, for example in a rock massif or in the sea “The weather is getting nicer again”. The first hypothesis will only put out a few fires at a time, not the mass that still ravages the country.

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The weather conditions and especially the rain could well be a rescue. According to the experts interviewed, it could come back around September or October, as well as the snow afterwards. “The rain will make it possible to extinguish human-sized fires, DetailAnthony Collin. There, the emergency services can intervene with side attacks in order to reduce their intensity.. Until then, the number of hectares burned will undoubtedly increase sharply, the Canadian government reminds on his side The “Canada has the third largest forest area in the world” with “almost 362 million hectares“.

A total extinction is therefore difficult to imagine for the time being, since the forests are huge and the fires are strong. However, a fear remains. “In the fall, there were already persistent droughts, especially on the west coast of Canada”, recalls the meteorologist Cyril Bonnefoy. News that would be disastrous for firefighters already exhausted from fighting the blaze.

*The Weather Channel is owned by the Figaro Group.