While Quebec has largely been spared the disastrous forest fires that plagued the north last summer, blazes that erupted near Nemaska in early July showed how quickly the situation could change. The Route du Nord was closed preventatively July 8 following the detection of fires and hot spots on the western side between km 306 and 320, and on the southern part between km 150 and 180.
Closure points were set up at km 4, near Chibougamau, at km 407, and the junction with Billy Diamond Highway at km 274. Another closure point was established at km 394 of the Billy Diamond Highway, where the Muskeg access road begins.
“We did have the three fires near the road near Nemaska and I believe they had another seven fires on the Route du Nord towards Chibougamau,” said Nemaska fire chief Kurtis Black. “Since that’s in an intensive zone, there were water bombers in Chibougamau initiated towards those fires.”
With many people attending the annual gathering in Old Nemaska, the community dispatched first responders and firefighting equipment to the area as a preventive measure. About 40 SOPFEU personnel were also present. Fires had reached as close as a half kilometre from Old Nemaska road and about 5 km from the Nemaska turnoff junction before being extinguished by rain.
Another fire, number 256, had gotten to about 10 km from the community on the other side of the lake but swiftly diminished when it hit an island with muskeg. Most concerning at press time was a quickly growing fire about 30 km northwest of Nemaska, which Black said SOPFEU would attack if it came any closer to Hydro-Québec infrastructure.
Due to increasing fire risk, on July 11 SOPFEU banned open fires in the vicinity of forests and the cancellation of industrial burning permits, which includes burns to destroy material felled during deforestation. With $29 million in new funding, the provincial forest fire prevention agency aims to hire 80 new firefighters in the next two years, increasing staff by 32%.
With fires near Quebec’s northeast border forcing thousands to evacuate from Labrador City, the town of Fermont recently planted a shield of deciduous trees along its perimeter, in association with Arbre-Évolution. The town had previously reduced density of conifer trees near residential buildings, which the organization said are full of organic oil “like a forest of matches.”
Following last summer’s record-shattering wildfire season, governments are increasingly leveraging both new technologies and ancient wisdom. In BC’s Okanagan Valley, the Syilx First Nation has been successfully leading traditional prescribed burning practices with the full support of BC Wildfire Service.
“They came with open hearts and minds, wanting to understand and work with Indigenous people,” said James Pepper, the sn’pink’tn community’s natural resources manager. “It’s great the province and federal government are starting to realize how important that proactive approach is.”
As the culture’s burning practices had long been outlawed, some techniques had to be modernized to account for decades of accumulated tree debris and other surface fuels. Technologies like environmental monitoring and mechanical tree removal are seated within the Indigenous paradigm.
With lower intensity burns to maintain plant roots and fungi, Syilx firekeepers would traditionally work when the snow recedes in early spring, focusing on patches dried by the sun with the remaining snow acting as a natural fire break. As more snow melts, the previous burns would serve as fire breaks for further work.
Traditional firekeepers work in two-person crews with vast knowledge of soil moisture levels, the land’s slope and other aspects. Before the prescribed burning process begins, a land “treatment” may consist of a fuel cleanup, stem pruning and some pile burning.
“One Syilx methodology is to carefully prepare the land before the burn, for example, by strategically placing debris,” Pepper told the Nation. “It’s very relevant what the conditions are after the treatment’s been done. These days it’s a hybridized approach that’s Syilx-led with very strong collaborative work that makes the whole process much stronger.”
The project has become recognized as a best practice in the field, with treatment areas effectively working as a break against three intense fires in the past two years. The community’s youth have enthusiastically absorbed traditional practices and joined the team, with two former employees starting their own companies focused on prescribed burning.
While many First Nations are reviving this millennia-old tradition to reduce risks, rejuvenate lands and return natural habitats, numerous communities are also integrating emerging technologies to battle blazes. Cree fire chiefs have been increasingly looking to satellite imagery and drones to stay ahead of wildfire risk.
“We have one active fire right now, and there’s no way of getting to it except by helicopter,” said Kurtis Black. “We go observe them and send the drones in to get a better perspective and transfer all that information to CNG and SOPFEU. Drones make a big difference. We started with them about two or three years ago – we’re trying to get training from Transport Canada.”
While drones can currently be used for “hot spotting” fires invisible to the naked eye with thermal scanners, last summer Transport Canada authorized the operation of drone swarms for fighting wildfires. US agencies use drones that drop “dragon eggs” that detonate with extinguishing chemicals. University of Calgary researchers are testing military predator drones that could travel farther to release water, even scooping up water from lakes inaccessible to piloted planes.
Hoping for a storm with plentiful rain, Black continuously monitors weather data from various apps. He was only half joking when he said, “You need an IT guy at all times.”
“We’ve got to check the weather channel every day,” said Black. “When I went to bed last night, it said five days of rain. When I checked this morning, two days. You try to depend on Mother Nature to put them out, but sometimes it doesn’t work that way.”