The Province

Wildfire risk higher in many areas: Researcher

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Federal wildfire researcher­s say most regions in Canada could be facing a long, hot, fiery summer.

Wildfire starts and the amount of land burned were below average for the first few weeks of the season, but dry weather is turning things around, said Richard Carr, a fire research analyst with Natural Resources Canada.

“We’ve had a long, lingering winter and a bit of a slow start to the fire season, but the numbers are higher than the same time last year.”

Wildfire starts have been above average since the end of April. On the national fire danger map, the risk in almost all of the three most westerly provinces is rated at least high. Saskatchew­an shows as almost entirely extreme. The Canadian Interagenc­y Forest Fire Centre says Canada is about 100 fires ahead of the 10-year average for early May.

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