Smoke from Canadian wildfires returns to Michigan – Planet Detroit

After a relatively quiet spring and early summer, forest fires are spreading again in Canada, burning millions of hectares of land. In Labrador and Newfoundland, 9,000 people have had to be evacuated. Production in the oil production center Fort McMurray in Alberta is also at risk.

“It’s been steadily increasing over the last few weeks,” Brian Wiens, executive director of the Canada Wildfire research collaboration, told Planet Detroit. “There were quite a few new fires a few days ago and some of the existing fires started to get a little stronger.”

Smoke from Canadian wildfires has drifted across the border, causing several days of poor air quality in states like Minnesota and North Dakota. But this year’s fires are only a fraction of the size of those that raged across Canada in 2023 and contributed to 11 days of significant particulate pollution in Detroit.

At this time, Michigan is unlikely to experience severe impacts from ongoing fires in Canada or the western United States, where large fires have broken out during a heat wave and increasing drought. However, fires in neighboring provinces or a change in weather conditions could again bring significant smoke to Michigan.

A report by the Detroit Free Press found that Canada’s wildfire problem is not only being accelerated by climate change, but also caused by decades of fire suppression to protect populated areas. This disruption of natural fire cycles leads to denser trees and dead and dry material accumulating on the forest floor, contributing to last year’s fire and smoke season.

In Detroit, the smoke led to a spike in emergency room visits, with residents suffering from coughing, wheezing and shortness of breath. Smoke from wildfires contains PM 2.5, or fine particulate matter, which is linked to cardiopulmonary disease and premature mortality. It can also contribute to ozone formation, a trigger for asthma attacks and other respiratory problems.

Canadian wildfires send smoke to the Great Lakes while drought continues in the West

The Great Lakes region is already seeing smoke from northern Alberta and Saskatchewan, but Wiens said the impacts of fires this far away tend to be smaller and shorter-lived. However, the fire danger in the western provinces is likely to remain as large areas are affected by “extreme” and “severe” drought.

Due to the sheer size of Canada’s forests and the tree species found in them, wildfires pose a particular threat to air quality. Large parts of the country are covered by boreal forests, which consist primarily of coniferous trees such as spruce and pine, which are more flammable than deciduous trees.

In 2024, nearly 4 million acres have burned, less than the long-term average for this time of year. In 2023, 27 million acres have already burned by this point in the season, Wiens said.

Nevertheless, Canada’s Fire Weather Index, which measures fire danger, shows high risk levels across much of Western Canada, although most parts of Ontario and Quebec are at the lowest level.

Wiens said the ongoing drought in the western provinces meant it would not take long for the fuel to run out, adding that this had coincided with a period of hot weather and thunderstorms.

“In certain patterns, there are lightning strikes that don’t bring a lot of rain with them, so you don’t even get the protective effect of some rain to mitigate the lightning,” he said. “That’s pretty much where we are right now.”

According to Wiens, most provinces have increased their fire service staffing levels after experiencing a staff shortage in 2023.

What could change the smoke forecast for Detroit?

While the relative freedom from fires in Eastern Canada is a good sign for Detroit, fires in Western Canada last July led to extremely poor air quality for several days.

Normally, smoke from far-off fires stays higher in the atmosphere, but last year a low-pressure system came with the smoke and pulled it down to the ground, says Alec Kownacki, a meteorologist with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy’s Air Quality Division.

“It was a very special scenario that happened last year,” he said. “For that to happen, everything has to fit together perfectly.”

Kownacki said he has observed an increase in fire activity in recent weeks, including fires in northern Ontario, near St. James Bay, north of Michigan. Some of those fires only appeared on the Canadian government’s interactive fire map in the last week or so.

This year’s shift from an El Niño weather pattern to a La Niña weather pattern could also make the fire weather forecast more uncertain, Wiens said. La Niña typically brings cooler weather and more precipitation to Canada. However, Wiens said the transition between the two weather patterns can be unpredictable, and increased precipitation could also mean lightning and more fires.

Planet Detroit will continue to monitor air quality for those concerned about wildfire smoke. The U.S. government offers a map of wildfire smoke at fire.airnow.gov, and Canada offers an animated smoke forecast at firesmoke.ca/forecasts/current.

When air pollution is high, experts recommend staying in air-conditioned indoor spaces and wearing an N95 or KN95 mask outdoors.