Precis

Canada is in the grip of the worst forest fires in recorded history.

In recent days, tens of thousands of people in British Columbia were evacuated, as the Canadian government deployed its armed forces to deal with the crisis.

Most residents of Yellowknife, the capital of Canada’s Northwest Territories, have also fled their homes.

An area of almost 14 million hectares has been scorched by more than 6,000 separate wildfires burning all over the country since late April.

Almost 5,000 international firefighters have already been flown in, including several hundred Australians.

This week Foreign Correspondent travels to British Columbia and Alberta where a desperate battle is underway to save lives and homes.

Reporter David Lipson goes inside the fire ground to see firsthand how a nation better known for snow and ice is coping with the fire catastrophe.

He meets the Canadian smoke jumpers who parachute into difficult terrain to fight fire fronts in remote locations.

He also spends time in the makeshift camps that have become home to fire crews from around the world including the Australians – many of whom are veterans of Australia’s Black Summer.

The camaraderie within the camps helps with the challenges of the difficult work they face and when the Australians leave to face their own summer fire season, they know the Canadians will be ready and willing to return the favour.

Episode teaser. Fires and fire fighters

Music

00:10

DAVID LIPSON: Canada's fire authorities have never seen anything like it.

00:14

KERRYANNE CUMMINS: They're breaking all records here.

00:20

DAVID LIPSON, Reporter: Almost 6000 separate wildfires have burnt all over the country.

00:23

STEVEN GUILBEAULT: It's the worst forest fire in recorded history. It's never happened before.

00:30

CLINTON NEUMANN: The fires are more intense, they're bigger.

00:34

RAY SUPERNAULT: "That truck needs to go. Where's that truck?"

00:37

DAVID LIPSON: Canada has been overwhelmed.

ROBERT LABOUCAN: I lost my home.

00:40

I lost my vehicles, I lost all my tools.

00:43

DAVID LIPSON, Reporter: So an international force of fire-fighters, thousands strong…

ANGELA: It's a mammoth effort.

DAVID LIPSON, Reporter: …has been flown in to help.

00:49

RUDY BLANCAS: We're all in it together now.

00:58

Lipson in chopper. Super:
David Lipson

DAVID LIPSON, Reporter: Foreign Correspondent takes you inside the fire ground to find out how a nation better known for snow and ice is coping.

01:03

Aerials. Forest destruction

More than 15 million hectares of thick forest has been scorched, and Canada's Black Summer is not over.

01:13

Title: CANADA ON FIRE

Music

01:22

Chopper. International fire fighters arrive. Super:
HIGH LEVEL, ALBERTA

01:28

NZ FIRE FIGHTER: "Kia ora."

01:35

DAVID LIPSON, Reporter: Welcome to fire camp at High Level.

01:36

NZ FIRE FIGHTER 2: "It's a bit hot in here."

01:39

DAVID LIPSON, Reporter: A United Nations of firefighters…

01:41

CLINTON NEUMANN: "Here we're working alongside crews from South Africa, Canada, the US."

01:44

DAVID LIPSON, Reporter: ...locked in a daily, desperate battle to save homes and lives from the most serious fire threat Canada's ever faced.

FIRE FIGHTER: "Long day."

01:49

Clinton with fire fighters

DAVID LIPSON, Reporter: Clinton Neumann is with the Rural Fire Service in Queensland. Here, he's acting as crew boss for fire team Charlie 161.

02:01

Clinton interview

CLINTON NEUMANN: It's definitely starting to feel like the new norm. The frequency of these international deployments, the coming together and sharing of resources on the scale that we have seen, probably in the last five to ten years has been growing in increasing frequency.

02:13

Burning forest

KERRYANNE CUMMINS: It's been thick, dense smoke for days.

02:27

Kerryanne at fire

DAVID LIPSON, Reporter: Kerryanne Cummins is with the New South Wales Forestry Corporation. Here she works a chainsaw, felling dangerous burnt trees.

02:35

Kerryanne interview

KERRYANNE CUMMINS: The last two days of woken up with a bit of a sore throat. It's a combination of smoke, lack of sleep, you know you're putting out hotspots and the ash just comes in, comes everywhere. Up here it's daylight for 3/4 of the day. So you might be fighting the fire for 10-15 hours and not realise that "Oh my goodness it's 8:30 at night and the sun's still in the middle of the sky". So it sort of throws you a little bit. Every day you get back and you take a big deep breath and go made it.

02:46

South African fire fighters dance and sing, as crews prepare for day

DAVID LIPSON, Reporter: The South African contingent has brought more than their fire-fighting prowess.

03:20

They've also taken on responsibility for lifting the spirits of the entire camp before the morning briefing gets underway.

03:33

Lipson to camera

Totally amazing to see what's happening here. It's sort of makes you quite emotional actually, to see how far they've come and the spirit that they generate. It's just amazing. But this morning, things have taken a serious turn.

04:05

Fire fighters take silence

- "So I ask you now all to take a moment of silence.

04:26

DAVID LIPSON, Reporter: News has reached the camp a falling tree in British Columbia has killed a 19 year old firefighter -- the first fatality of the season.

CLINTON NEUMANN: Unfortunately, there was, a loss of a firefighter.

04:32

Clinton interview

So that's an opportunity to reflect on that and acknowledge her contribution. And also...um...give me a second.

DAVID LIPSON, Reporter: Take your time…

04:48

It's a stark reminder for all – that this is dangerous work.

05:10

Traffic on smoky road

RADIO: "Meanwhile special air quality statements are in effect for much of Alberta today, due to wildfire smoke."

05:24

Canola fields/oil rig/rodeo

Music

05:32

DAVID LIPSON, Reporter: They call Alberta the Texas of Canada. All over the province it's canola, crude oil and cowboys.

05:34

Rodeo, bronc riders

Music

05:50

MAN: Cowboy shit goes on here.

05:59

Music

06:01

MAN: Old cowboy here, Clarence Warnier, saddle bronc rider, broke his neck. He had to retire. His wife caught him with another woman.

06:29

MAN 2: "We're in High Level, Alberta."

06:46

DAVID LIPSON, Reporter: Up here, every element of life is overshadowed by the ongoing emergency.

06:49

Tree planter at rodeo

TREE PLANTER: I'm a tree planter. I basically got a day off because of the smoke. The helicopter pilot couldn't fly in this. And so that's why we're here.

06:56

Man at rodeo

MAN: We have fires all the way around, all pretty much in four directions. Doesn't matter which way the wind blows, it really chokes down on you.

07:08

People at rodeo

DAVID LIPSON, Reporter: Everyone here in High Level has been living through this crisis.

07:15

MAN: Fox Lake was evacuated here, Shati was evacuated. The town is absolutely full of evacuees.

07:20

Drone shot of town and motels

Music

07:30

DAVID LIPSON, Reporter: Seasonal workers in timber and oil and gas normally fill the town's ample motel rooms, but this year beds are hard to come by.

07:33

Lipson at motel, to camera

We've just got to High Level and scored the last room in town, because this whole place is packed. And it's not tourists or seasonal workers here this year, but fire evacuees who have been staying in these motels, not for days, but for months.

07:48

Laboucan kids play at motel. Robert smoking

Music

08:06

Robert interview

ROBERT LABOUCAN: I lost my home. I lost my vehicles, I lost all my tools. Can't do anything but sit home with my kids.

08:18

DAVID LIPSON, Reporter: Five percent of Canada's population is Indigenous. But this year Indigenous communities have accounted for more than 42 percent of fire evacuations.

08:31

ROBERT LABOUCAN: That was May 2nd when we evacuated. Been out here living the hotel life since then. Been watching these kids playing on the sidewalk. That's my boy. It's so sad. I took this photo as we were leaving. That was my last look at home.

08:46

Photo of home

09:22

Robert with baby

DAVID LIPSON, Reporter: Robert Laboucan, his wife, and their five kids have been staying here ever since.

ROBERT LABOUCAN: I was just begging my kids, please pack your bags. Pack your bags.

09:30

Robert interview

We won't be coming home. Pack everything you can. We just ran, couldn't even grab what we loved, but – pardon my tears.

09:44

Robert holds baby

This is this is Ronan, born May the fourth. During the evacuation, he was born, Mama got into shock and went into labour.

DAVID LIPSON, Reporter: Really? Wow.

10:03

Evacuees at motel

Three and a half thousand people fled Fox Lake. 1600 of them lost their homes. And the houses still standing aren't fit to live in.

10:16

DIANE MENEEN: I've been avoiding to going home because I just don't want to see it like that.

DAVID LIPSON, Reporter: Diane Meneen's home survived the inferno.

DIANE MENEEN: All my art's in my house because I'm an artist too - and most of these are my art, like the tattoos.

DAVID LIPSON, Reporter: She hasn't laid eyes on it in two and a half months. Until today.

10:32

Barge across Fox Lake

Music

10:57

Diane on barge

DAVID LIPSON, Reporter: These barges are the only way in or out. Residents are allowed back briefly to collect personal belongings.

11:02

DIANE MENEEN: I haven't seen it this smoky in Fox Lake, I think ever. So now it's just weird to go back home.

11:16

Lipson drives car off barge to Fox Lake destroyed houses, with Diane

11:26

DAVID LIPSON, Reporter: Fox Lake is a disaster zone. No electricity or clean water. This is all that's left of the police station.

DIANE MENEEN: There was a house right here. And right there. Trailers, homes.

DAVID LIPSON, Reporter: Whose homes, do you know them?

DIANE MENEEN: I know them, yeah.

11:42

It's strange, just holes now on the ground.

12:09

Arriving at Diane's house

Music

12:15

Diane into house

DIANE MENEEN: This is my home, but luckily our house is okay. It just doesn't feel real. It's very quiet now. No dogs barking, because you'd hear dogs everywhere, quads going everywhere.

12:29

And all these oats. Somebody left open our window and then a squirrel got in. My room is down here.

13:00

Diane collect paintings

It's strange coming here and not being able to stay. I want to come home, just be home and lay in my bed and sleep. All of these are going with me, so now hopefully when I go back to the hotel room and hang all these up, I'll feel a little bit better, feel a little bit at home.

13:28

Phone footage, driving near fire. Super:
EAST PRAIRIE, ALBERTA

RAY SUPERNAULT: We're surrounded by fire here. I have actually nothing to say because I'm scared shitless.

DAVID LIPSON, Reporter: Six hours south, the East Prairie Metis Settlement, was given less than an hour's notice to evacuate.

14:10

RAY SUPERNAULT: This is by the bridge. We're trying get. That truck needs to go...where's that truck?

14:29

Fire at Prairie Metis

DAVID LIPSON, Reporter: The community Chairman, Ray Supernault, captured the chaos that followed on his mobile phone.

14:38

RAY SUPERNAULT: "You can't come closer. Just move that out of the way!"

DAVID LIPSON, Reporter: With just one old fire engine and a small water truck, eight men fought through the night to save everything they could.

14:49

Lipson drives to burnt out houses with Supernault

By morning, 44 houses were gone.

15:09

RAY SUPERNAULT: The lady that was living here has like four children. Little kids. In a nutshell, that's how it looked in every house.

DAVID LIPSON, Reporter: That's all that's left?

RAY SUPERNAULT: That's all that's left.

15:17

DAVID LIPSON, Reporter: So what was here, mate?

RAY SUPERNAULT: It was a nice house. You can see just a pile of mud now.

15:38

DAVID LIPSON, Reporter: But did you have water bombers?

15:51

RAY SUPERNAULT: No, forestry wasn't here. Actually I'm lying Forestry was here with Cats for 2-3 hours. They were doing their assessments and they left.

15:53

DAVID LIPSON, Reporter: Despite worsening fire seasons, successive governments have slashed Alberta's wildfire fighting budget…

16:07

RAY SUPERNAULT: It's bent the shit out of that.

DAVID LIPSON, Reporter: …hoping to save taxpayer dollars – and quote "modernise" the force.

16:16

RAY SUPERNAULT: This was their job, right? If they would have put the fire out over there it wouldn't have come into our community and that's what really pisses me off, because the province should have stepped in somewhere. Not the day of the fire to call me, should have stepped in 2-3 days before, I could have did something. Many, many people throughout this fire lost homes, structures, buildings, their livelihood. And it's because we didn't know what was coming. You know, what's an hour call? "Hey, fires coming, Get ya people out." It's brutal. That's all I can say.

16:24

Canadian flag/Scenery

Music

17:13

DAVID LIPSON, Reporter: Canada's natural environment is the stuff of postcards. But it's also one of the world's biggest exporters of the fossil fuels that drive climate change. The fact they're being burnt somewhere else isn't helping Canada escape the impact.

17:18

Tourists at Lake Louise

MAN: It was clearer earlier this morning, which was nice, and then the smoke moved in, which was unfortunate.

17:43

MAN 2: It's a lot worse. There's a lot more fires this year, but you get that with a lot more global warming as well.

17:52

Bear eating berries

STEVEN GUILBEAULT: The link to climate change is very clear.

18:00

Guilbeault. S
Steven Guilbeault
MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE CHANGE

What we're doing now collectively, and that includes in Canada, is leading to the type of climate impacts we saw over the summer.

18:05

Lake scenery

I think this summer, certainly for the Northern Hemisphere, will be a wake-up call.

18:13

Lightning strikes

Music

18:19

Ship in port. Super:
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA

18:27

Protests at LNG 2023

PROTESTORS: "Take big oil and gas out of your climate plan."

18:31

DAVID LIPSON, Reporter: It's not just international firefighters who've come to Canada.

18:40

Seth Klein at protest

SETH KLEIN: Well, I would describe it as a global gathering of climate arsonists.

18:46

LNG 2023 conference

DAVID LIPSON, Reporter: The biggest petrochemical companies on earth have gathered for LNG 2023 – a liquified natural gas conference. Here, LNG is being touted as a solution to the climate crisis.

18:53

Lipson with Jason Klein. Super:
Jason Klein
CEO, LNG CANADA

Is there a sense of irony at all that a conference like this is happening at a time when half the country is on fire?

JASON KLEIN: I think it's important that this conference is here in Canada, because Canada is about to join the world of LNG exporting nations and going to help global climate change by supporting the displacement of coal by natural gas that's developed in a responsible and sustainable manner.

19:16

Conference GVs

DAVID LIPSON, Reporter: The LNG export boom is an awkward issue for Canada's progressive government and its former activist Environment Minister.

19:43

Guilbeault interview

STEVEN GUILBEAULT: I knew going into politics that I wouldn't be able to win all my battles. And David, people also have to understand that, you know, between what scientists are saying and the ability and the agility of government to respond quickly, there is an unfortunate delay.

19:54

Fire-fighting plane/ Aerials of wild fires

DAVID LIPSON, Reporter: In British Columbia, this year's fire season is the worst on record.

RADIO: "Currently there are about 2000 wildfire fighters battling more than 350 fires across BC."

20:22

DAVID LIPSON, Reporter: The terrain here is different to Alberta. In many parts, even more inaccessible. Fire fighters here have taken their methods to another level.

30:36

Smoke Jumpers out of plane

Music

20:49

DAVID LIPSON, Reporter: They call themselves the Smoke Jumpers. A rapid response team of parachuting fire-fighters. They can deploy in minutes and reach any fire front in the province within two hours.

20:55

Plane on tarmac. Super:
FORT ST. JOHN
BRITISH COLUMBIA

But it's not all high-octane death defiance.

21:13

Dane repairing uniform

DANE BUMSTEAD: I'm just changing the thread so that it matches colours, because it's really nice when all the colours match up. My jump pants are just a little worn out from all the jumps we've been doing, so just patching that up.

21:20

JAMES BERGEN: A Smoke Jumper is basically responsible for the repair, maintenance and installation

21:40

James interview. Super:
James Bergen
BC WILDFIRE SERVICE

or building of all this equipment that we use. They're not items you can order.

21:43

Smoke Jumpers suit up. Smoke Jumpers to plane

It's by far our busiest season ever, by leaps and bounds, in terms of missions flown as well as jumpers deployed. In the old days a 20,000 hectare fire was a big fire, and now and some of our larger fires, 20,000 hectares is what it moves in a day.

21:57

DAVID LIPSON, Reporter: They spend up to a week on the fire ground, sometimes even longer. Each Smoke Jumper is strapped with more than 30 kilograms of personal gear. Their food and drinking water gets its own parachute.

22:14

Ben interview

BEN BOUCHUT: It changes everything when you know at the end of the day you're going to have a good meal. We've done sushi and home-made poutine on the line. My specialty is I do a baked brie, and I just like roast some garlic and add dried tomatoes and rosemary in it. However difficult the day is, if you sit down with the boys and you have a good steak at the end of the day, it's all worth it.

22:32

Firefighters by chopper. Super:
VANDERHOOF, BRITISH COLUMBIA

23:03

Lipson to camera

DAVID LIPSON, Reporter: With such a huge area and so many fires burning, the best way to comprehend the scale of this emergency is up in the air.

23:10

We're hitching a ride with helicopter pilot West Luck.

23:22

Chopper pilot

PILOT: I've been flying choppers in this area for 30 years. It's the worst fire season I've seen so far.

23:30

Lipson in chopper

DAVID LIPSON, Reporter: Everywhere you look you see smoke, burnt out forest and fire, and the vast majority of them have been burning out of control. From here, you get a sense of what the fire crews have been up against.

23:45

Fire devastation. Ground crews

Yesterday, flames ripped through here. Today, conditions are relatively mild, allowing ground crews to start mopping up.

DEVIN OAKES: Because in four days' time the hot weather will return, the winds will return, and potentially this thing could blow out somewhere.

24:08

Devin on fire ground with crew

You will have to get a shot of these guys, they'll love it. My name is Devin Oakes. 28 years old. I've been fighting fire for the last eight seasons.

24:27

DAVID LIPSON, Reporter: 'Oakes' as he's known is in charge of the Princeton Sierras.

DEVIN OAKES: They're 20 stallions and they're always ready to gallop. It's hard laborious work.

24:44

DAVID LIPSON, Reporter: And the moustaches?

24:54

DEVIN OAKES: I don't what you're talking about.

24:58

Ground crew at work

DAVID LIPSON, Reporter: Here, firefighting is mostly backbreaking work, far from the inferno. Even without raging flames, danger is all around.

25:06

Devin interview

DEVIN OAKES: We have been having some tree strike incidents this year, a ton of trees have been coming down.

25:21

Ground crew in forest

DAVID LIPSON, Reporter: The Sierras are on heightened alert.

NEWS REPORT: "We begin with an emotional public tribute in Revelstoke this afternoon

25:29

Photo. Devyn Gale

for a young wildland firefighter who died..."

DAVID LIPSON, Reporter: Devyn Gale, the 19 year old killed by a falling tree last week, was the first death of a BC wildfire fighter since 2015.

25:37

Pamela

PAMELA PALOUCCI: I don't really know what to say. What would you say?

25:52

Fraser

FRASER STEWART-BARNETT: It's tough. They're in the same shoes you're wearing. They're out working towards the same goal you're working towards. Really, it's a big family, even beyond the 21 of us out here today and it's really hard to lose a member of your family like that.

26:03

Crew tags trees and cut down

DAVID LIPSON, Reporter: To minimise risk, dangerous trees are tagged, then cut down before the others can come in with hoses.

26:30

Sierra crew member hoses hotspots

SIERRA CREW MEMBER: "Knock out all these hotspots, cool everything down."

26:52

DAVID LIPSON, Reporter: And even after heavy rain, fires here continue to burn underground.

26:57

SIERRA CREW MEMBER: And you can see like how deep it goes. That's what makes it pretty challenging, because it burns so deep.

27:04

DAVID LIPSON, Reporter: It burns a bit like a fuse underground, does it?

SIERRA CREW MEMBER: Yeah. So you gotta find it, smell it, look for it.

27:15

DAVID LIPSON, Reporter: Can it kick off again?

SIERRA CREW MEMBER: Absolutely it could; it will keep going.

DEVIN OAKES: Once this is done it's not just go home and rest up,

27:23

Devin interview

it's come back out here once we're reset and get back into another incident immediately. There won't be a shortage for the rest of the summer.

27:35

Chopper in smoky sky

Music

27:46

Fire-fighting crews eat, at camp

27:52

DAVID LIPSON, Reporter: Crews like the Sierras will continue to work these fires until the snow arrives. But reinforcements from the across the globe can't stay much longer. The El Nino weather pattern that's brought drought and fire to the Southern Hemisphere in years past is taking shape.

27:58

Episode wrap up

STEVEN GUILBEAULT: It sometimes can be difficult to understand what climate change is unless you're living it. We need to do more when it comes to fighting climate change. We need to do it faster, and we also need to be better prepared to face the impacts of climate change, because we have entered the

28:22

era of climate change and climate impacts.

28:40

CLINTON NEUMANN: This is something that we need to keep in our conscience and make sure that we're doing everything we should to be prepared for fire, because it's something we need to learn to live with.

28:45

DAVID LIPSON, Reporter: As the planet warms, fire seasons are starting to overlap. And Australia's outlook for the upcoming summer is causing concern.

28:52

Clinton

CLINTON NEUMANN: There's already stuff starting to crack off back home so there'll definitely be fire. That's -- you can guarantee that in Australia

29:04

Kerryanne

KERRYANNE CUMMINS: I know that we're going to have a bad fire season and we are hoping that we can call on the Canadians then and they can support us.

29:10

Devin

DEVIN OAKES: There's a lot of folks here in British Columbia that'll be putting their hands up to return that favour.

29:18

Clinton on phone

CLINTON NEUMANN: "Have a good day. Talk to you soon. Love you. Bye."

29:23

Credits [see below]

Music

29:36

Out point

29:58