'Not afraid to stay': The Canadians taking fighting wildfires into their own hands
Some residents in remote Canadian communities are defying evacuation orders to protect their homes from intensifying wildfires. This trend has sparked a national debate regarding the adequacy of firefighting resources and the challenges of living in areas increasingly threatened by climate-driven forest fires.
Why it matters
It underscores the growing tension between personal property rights, public safety, and the escalating threat of climate change in boreal regions.
Image source, Supplied by Sonja Leverkus By Nadine Yousif Senior Canada reporter Published 7 hours ago When a wildfire broke out near his First Nation community in northern Ontario, Hubert Wigwas decided to stay put.
He put sprinklers on his roof to extinguish falling embers. He checked on elders in his community who also stayed behind, and he fuelled up four boats down on the lake in case they needed a quick escape.
"This is everything I've built in my 58 years," Wigwas, a councillor from Gull Bay First Nation, told the BBC. "I'm just not going to run away and let it burn."
Canada has seen some of its worst fire seasons in recent years, and experienced its most destructive on record in 2023, when blazes tore through forest land roughly the size of Syria. As of this August, more than 750 wildfires are actively burning across the country.
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