The 2008 California wildfire season was one of the most devastating in the state of the 21st century. While 6,255 fires occurred, about two-thirds as many as in 2007, the total area burned— 1,593,690 acres —far exceeded that of previous years.
Eastgate is a small cabin community located at the Eastern portal of Manning Provincial Park in the Cascade Mountains of British Columbia, Canada. It is located in the Similkameen-Okanagan Forest District. The community store and gas station, and formerly the now closed restaurant, are popular for visitors of Manning Park Resort and ski area. The settlement is located along the uppermost Similkameen River. Access to Eastgate is limited solely to east–west travel along the Hope-Princeton Highway. The community has one gas station, a Canco gas station, a cabin rental and a bed and breakfast. The gas station was formerly host to the Eastgate Canada Post Office. The Eastgate Volunteer Fire Department, with three trucks, provides fire protection for the area and frequently participates in forest fire control in the region. The small town shows up on some government maps as Manning Park.
On July 18, 2009, 3 wildfires broke out around the city of West Kelowna, British Columbia during extremely dry and windy conditions. Over 20,000 people were evacuated as a result of the fires. 9,877 hectares of forest was burned along with 4 buildings. All 3 fires were suspected as human caused but the exact ignition source is still unknown.
2015 Canadian wildfires were a series of wildfires across Canada and Alaska in July 2015 which spread smoke across most of North America. Over two hundred fires were ablaze across British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Alberta.
On July 6, 2017, a two-hectare wildfire began west of 100 Mile House, British Columbia, Canada marking the beginning of the record-breaking 2017 wildfire season in British Columbia. On July 7, 56 new fires started throughout British Columbia (BC) leading to several evacuation alerts, orders and the declaration of a provincial state of emergency by the Government of British Columbia. By September 12, 158 fires were burning throughout the province. A total of 12,161 square kilometres had burned by the end of the 2017 fire season, the largest total area burned in a fire season in recorded history. This record was broken the following year, with five of BC's worst 10 fire seasons occurring since 2010. However, the 2017 fire season was also notable for the largest number of total evacuees in a fire season, as well as for the largest single fire ever in British Columbia. Research indicates that human-caused climate change played a significant role in the fires.
The Diamond Creek Fire was a wildfire in the Pasayten Wilderness, Okanogan County, Washington, that began with an improperly extinguished campfire on July 23, 2017. In July, the fire threatened historic cabins with destruction. On August 31, it spread to Canada in an area between Cathedral Provincial Park and Manning Provincial Park. On September 6, it grew beyond 100,000 acres to become a megafire. The fire was contained on October 23, 2017.
The 2019 Alberta wildfires have been described by NASA as part of an extreme fire season in the province. In 2019 there were a total of 803,393.32 hectares, which is over 3.5 times more land area burned than in the five-year average burned. The five year average is 747 fires destroying 146,360.08 hectares. There were 644 wildfires recorded in Alberta. By May 31, 10,000 people had been evacuated, 16 homes, and the Steen River CN railway bridge, had been destroyed.
Binta Lake Fire was a lightning-caused wildfire in Southeast of Burns Lake, British Columbia that started on Wednesday, July 28, 2010, and lasted for more than a month. It was the largest fire in the province in 2010. The fire burned a total area of 400 square kilometers. The fire caused thick smoke in surrounding areas, evacuation orders in the region, and damaged merchantable timber.
The August 2020 California lightning wildfires were a series of 650 wildfires that ignited across Northern California in mid-August 2020, due to a siege of dry lightning from rare, massive summer thunderstorms, which were caused by an unusual combination of very hot, dry air at the surface, dry fuels, and advection of moisture from the remains of Tropical Storm Fausto northward into the Bay Area. These fires burned between 1,500,000 acres (6,100 km2) to 2,100,000 acres (8,500 km2) within a 2–3 week period. The August 2020 lightning fires included three enormous wildfires: the SCU Lightning Complex, the August Complex, and the LNU Lightning Complex. On September 10, 2020, the August Complex set a record for the single-largest wildfire in the modern history of California, reaching a total area burned of 471,185 acres (1,907 km2). On September 11, the August Complex merged with the Elkhorn Fire, another massive wildfire of 255,039 acres (1,032 km2), turning the August Complex into a monster wildfire of 746,607 acres (3,021 km2).
The Western United States experienced a series of major wildfires in 2020. Severe August thunderstorms ignited numerous wildfires across California, Oregon, and Washington, followed in early September by additional ignitions across the West Coast. Fanned by strong, gusty winds and fueled by hot, dry terrains, many of the fires exploded and coalesced into record-breaking megafires, burning more than 10.2 million acres of land, mobilizing tens of thousands of firefighters, razing over ten thousand buildings, and killing at least 37 people. The fires caused over $19.884 billion in damages, including $16.5 billion in property damage and $3.384 billion in fire suppression costs. Climate change and poor forest management practices contributed to the severity of the wildfires.
The 2021 British Columbia wildfires burned across the Canadian province of British Columbia. The severity of the 2021 wildfire season is believed to have been caused by a "perfect storm" of environmental factors exacerbated by human-caused climate change.
The White Rock Lake fire was a wildfire in Thompson-Nicola Regional District, British Columbia. It began July 13, 2021 as one of the 2021 B.C. wildfires and resulted in the destruction of Monte Lake. As of August 18, 2021 it totalled 81,139 hectares and was classified as out of control. Insured losses total an estimated $77 million Canadian, according to one agency, which in late September expected the number of claims to top 800, most of them related to residential property.
The 2023 Washington wildfire season officially began in March 2023 in the US state of Washington.
The 2023 Alberta wildfires are a series of ongoing wildfires in the province of Alberta, Canada as part of the 2023 Canadian wildfires, as of 20 May 2023 have burned over 842,000 hectares. This May 20 situation includes 91 active wildfires throughout the province, 25 of them out of control. Multiple communities have been placed under evacuation orders, resulting in over 29,000 people being evacuated. On May 6, the province of Alberta declared a provincial state of emergency.
Beginning in March 2023, and with increased intensity starting in June, Canada has been affected by an ongoing, record-setting series of wildfires. All 13 provinces and territories have been affected, with large fires in Alberta, British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Quebec. The 2023 wildfire season has seen the most area burned in Canada's recorded history, surpassing the 1989, 1995, and 2014 fire seasons, as well as in recorded North American history, surpassing the 2020 Western US wildfire season.
The McDougall Creek Fire is an ongoing wildfire in the Okanagan region of British Columbia, Canada as part of the 2023 Canadian wildfires. It started near West Kelowna on August 15, 2023 and was discovered at 5:59 pm PDT. The wildfire has forced the evacuation of West Kelowna and parts of Kelowna.
