Canadian Government Executive - Volume 23 - Issue 07

16 / Canadian Government Executive // October 2017 The Dashboard Forest Fires Canada is covered with just over 40 per cent of forest or 347 million hectares. Of that amount, about 2.5 million hectares of forest are consumed each year by fire. The forest fire season in Canada normally runs from April to October, peaking from mid-May to August. Canadian agencies realized in the 1970s that they could not manage active fire seasons on their own so they cre- ated the Canadian In- teragency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC) to fa- cilitate the exchange of fire fighting re- sources between the ten provinces, Yukon and Northwest Terri- tories and Parks Can- ada. Resource shar- ing within Canada and between Canada and its international part- ners has become the norm and as such, CIFFC has become an integral part of forest fire management in Canada. In this Dashboard, we take a look at Forest Fires in Canada. 466,330 prelim. 3,958 516 262 5,380 39,310 68,105 1,721,912 280,738 169,843 est. 3 1,898 prelim. 128 247 221 384 668 459 720 1,858 185 est. 5 3,861,647 (est.) 7,140 (est.) Canada Forest Fires (2015) Number of fires Area Burned (hectares) 2006.......................... 9 820 est. 2007.......................... 6 917 2008.......................... 6 278 2009.......................... 7 210 2010.......................... 7 291 2011.......................... 4 743 est. 2012.......................... 7 956 est. 2013.......................... 6 264 2014.......................... 5 158 2015.......................... 7 140 est. 2006.......................... 2.4 million 2007.......................... 2.4 million 2008.......................... 6.4 million 2009.......................... 4.2 million 2010.......................... 2.6 million 2011.......................... 1.2 million 2012.......................... 5.2 million 2013.......................... 1.4 million 2014.......................... 0.5 million 2015.......................... 11.2 million 2017 has proved particularly chal- lenging for the province of British Columbia and Parks Canada. While other provinces and territories had peaks of activity, all Canadian agencies were busy identifying resources to assist those in need. As of September 20, 2017 there have been ~5,264 fires burning ~3.5 million hectres. Total Number of Forest Fires by Year Total Property Losses per Year The 2017 Forest Fire Season to date