Canada wildfires 2024: The latest on active wildfire counts, maps, evacuation orders, air quality and smoke alerts nationwide

In an update last week, the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC) reduced the National Preparedness Level (NPL) against wildfires from four to three.

As summer winds down, bringing cooler temperatures and more moisture, the demand for mobilization is decreasing.

What does NPL 3 mean?

Here are the factors that are considered NPL classification — which the service scales from one to five.

NPL considers:

• Availability and demand for firefighters or equipment

• Current environmental conditions

• Potential for new wildland fires

• Current active wildland fires

An NPL classification of three is defined as:

Wildland fire is increasing within one or more jurisdictions while the demand for mobilization of firefighters and equipment from other jurisdictions is moderate.

Last week saw the historic deployment of a 10-member team of First Nations firefighters from Atlantic Canada to Alberta. This is the first deployment of an Indigenous firefighting crew in Atlantic Canada.

The Weather Network warns that a prolonged heat wave has the ability to raise the fire danger to high across the southern tier of B.C. over the duration of this week.

For current B.C. evacuation orders and alerts, click HERE.

Province-wide, however, the number of active wildfires continues to decline, with fire crews responding to 216 active blazes — 15 per cent of which are classified as out-of-control, according to B.C.'s wildfire dashboard.

B.C. Wildfire Service has reported over 1,500 fires across the province this season, which are collectively responsible for burning more than one-million hectares of land. Nearly three-quarters of those fires were started by lightning. There were 30 out-of-control fires burning in the province as of September 1.

Kids from Jasper are waiting a bit longer to get back to school in the wake of the summer's devastating wildfires that destroyed a major portion of the town.

Jasper's schools are set to reopen Sept. 17, mere weeks later than scheduled, due to everyone's drive to get school buildings ready ASAP for the approximately 470 students from K-12, said Carolyn Lewis-Shillington, chief superintendent of the Grande Yellowhead Public School Division (GYPSD).

Officials are rushing to ensure the kids' timely return to class, but with the increasing prevalence of wildfires, flooding and other extreme weather events, experts say school authorities everywhere must be planning for climate-related emergencies.

Ventilation systems were switched off remotely during evacuation, but ash and smoke from the fires — which destroyed more than 350 of Jasper's 1,113 buildings, Parks Canada said — entered through windows left open for cooling during that hot summer stretch. Once officials cleared people to return, Lewis-Shillington said, division facilities staff worked alongside insurers, contractors and specialists to determine how to proceed.

More than 200 people have spent five- to six-day weeks sanitizing (from wiping down library books to washing every piece of cutlery), cleaning ducts, replacing ceiling tiles, installing air purifiers, UV-cleaning computers, junking irreparable items and more. Restoration costs are estimated at over $10 million, Lewis-Shillington said, with the division paying an insurance deductible of about $500,000.

GYPSD is also pulling together mental health support from across the small division, which stretches across a large geographic region. Family-school liaison counselors, health navigators and psychologists will be on hand in Jasper and Hinton, Lewis-Shillington said. An outside trauma counselor will also work with and advise staff and teachers.

Active fires in Canada today: 701

The map below details the locations of wildfires across Canada and classified by status of:

Red = Out of Control

Yellow = Being Held

Blue = Under control

Purple = Out of Control (Monitored)

New fires today (Sept. 3): 7

Fires to date in 2024: 5,106

Area burned to date in 2024 (HA): 5.1M

Key Canada wildfire updates on Tuesday:

🔥 As Jasper preps a later return to class, experts urge more schools to plan for climate emergencies.

🔥 B.C. heatwave threatens to raise the fire danger to high across the southern tier of the province and will lead to an elevated risk of thunderstorms once again on Tuesday.