May 17, 2012
OTTAWA, ONTARIO - Wild fire season in Canada has begun, with unusually high temperatures and dry conditions resulting in grassfires in Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) will once again be providing timely and accurate forest fire information for all of Canada. To stay informed over the coming months, visit the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System website at http://cwfis.cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/ for useful information and easy-to-use tools, including:
- current fire locations and fire conditions, updated daily by the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System;
- fire statistics and fire danger forecasts, summarized weekly in the National Wildland Fire Situation Report;
- locations of fires shown on a near-real-time interactive map;
- satellite images of larger forest fires;
- long-range fire weather forecast maps;
- and quick access to provincial and territorial fire agencies.
The site also provides general facts about wild fire in Canada. For example, annually, three percent of wild fires are responsible for 97 percent of the area burned, and, on average each year, 8,000 fires burn 2.1 million hectares, an area nearly half the size of Nova Scotia.
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For further information, please contact:
Patricia Best
Director of Communications
Office of the Minister
Natural Resources Canada, Ottawa
613-996-2007
or
Media Relations
Natural Resources Canada, Ottawa
613-992-4447
