ANDThis is the first firefighter fatality since the start of this historic fire season in Canada, with more than 900 fires currently active, including more than 570 out of control.

“It is with regret that our union mourns the loss of a family member, who died while fighting a fire on the outskirts of Revelstoke”, in British Columbia, revealed the BCGEU union.

The firefighter “died while fighting a fire,” the British Columbia Fire Department (BCWS) said in a response to Agence France-Presse (AFP) by email, without providing further details. details.

The last firefighter to die in combat in this Canadian province was in 2020.

Federal police and the province’s health and safety agency have opened an investigation.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recalled this Friday that the situation in the country remained “extremely serious”, deploring this “heartbreaking” death.

“We must never forget the risks these heroes take when they encounter danger,” Trudeau said.

In the country, the number of fires continues to grow, particularly in the west, where several hundred fires have been recorded in just a few days, most of them triggered by thunderstorms.

British Columbia, which recently ordered new evacuations, requested the help of 1,000 additional international firefighters.

But “it is very difficult to obtain additional resources to fight fires,” explained Cliff Chapman, spokesperson for the provincial fire department, on Thursday.

“It’s a very dangerous job. The conditions we find ourselves in make it even more dangerous for our people who are working 14, 16, 20 hour days trying to do everything they can to keep these fires out of the areas strategic,” he added.

And the situation will not improve with “the hot and dry weather expected in the coming months”, Sarah Budd of BCWS warned AFP: “We do not expect any respite from the weather”.

With 9.7 million hectares already consumed by fires across the country – 11 times the average of the last decade – the absolute annual record of 1989 has already been largely exceeded.

The east and west of the country are affected simultaneously and certain provinces not used to fires are also affected.

Just one of the forest fires that affected northern Quebec consumed more than a million hectares.

Canada, which due to its geographic location is warming more quickly than the rest of the planet, has faced extreme weather events in recent years whose intensity and frequency have been increased by climate change.

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