If You Liked Last Summer, You'll Love This Summer - 100s Of Zombie Fires Still Burning Across Canada

Even in the dead of Canada’s winter, the embers of last year’s record-setting wildfire season remain. So-called zombie fires are burning under thick layers of snow at an unprecedented rate, raising fears about what the coming summer may bring. People driving on the highway through the town of Fort Nelson, British Columbia (BC) in the winter can easily see – and smell – the clouds of white smoke flowing from the soil around them.



Sonja Leverkus, a firefighter and scientist who is local to the small north-eastern BC town, recalled driving during a snowstorm in November, but the snowfall didn’t look white. Rather, she said, it was blueish-grey because of the smoke in the air. “I’ve never experienced a snowstorm that smelled like smoke,” said Ms Leverkus, who has lived in northern BC for more than 15 years. These plumes were still visible into February, she added, even on bitter cold days when temperatures had plummeted to -40C (-40F).

The Fort Nelson smoke is the result of zombie fires – also called overwintering fires. They are flameless smoulders that burn slowly below the surface, and are kept alive thanks to an organic soil called peat moss common in North America’s boreal forest and to thick layers of snow that insulate them from the cold. These fires are not unusual. In the past 10 years, British Columbia has, on average, seen five or six that continue to burn during the cold months, experts say. But in January, the province saw an unprecedented peak of 106 active zombie fires, raising concern among fire scientists about what these smoulders will mean for the upcoming wildfire season.

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Another reason, Prof Flannigan said, is the extreme drought that the province has been dealing with over the last two years. As of February, most of BC has been under medium to extreme levels of drought, per the province’s drought map. Like the zombie fires, the drought, too, has been noticeable, said Ms Leverkus. When out in the forest last summer, she said she noticed that a creek that used to flow freely is now “just puddles”

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Left, New York. Right, Blade Runner 2049.

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https://thinc.blog/2024/02/17/if-you-liked-last-summer-youll-love-this-summer/