“Fire is not natural in the Amazon, it comes from criminal actions or deforestation,” Environment Minister Marina Silva told reporters. “There are people criminally setting fire to public and private areas.”

The world’s largest rainforest is facing a historical drought worsened by the El Nino weather phenomenon. Rainfall below average is increasing the polluting effects of the region’s annual burning season.

This is the time of year when fires tend to spike in the Amazon as rains subside, making it easier for ranchers and farmers who use fires to clear land, raise cattle and grow commercial crops.

According to the Brazilian government, 60 of the 62 cities in northern Amazonas state have declared a state of emergency because of drought and wildfires, and the month of October is expected to be “challenging.”

Silva said the government would send more than 300 firefighters and two aircraft to help put out the fires.

Those who deliberately set fire to private areas will have their properties embargoed and no longer be able to obtain funding, according to the head of environment agency IBAMA, Rodrigo Agostinho.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has staked his international reputation on reversing environmental back-sliding under his far-right predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, when Amazon deforestation soared.

In the first nine months of 2023, deforestation in the region fell 49.5 per cent on a yearly basis, according to preliminary data from space research agency INPE.

“If we hadn’t reduced deforestation by almost 50 per cent we would be living through the Apocalypse,” Silva said. “Right now we’re in a climate emergency in Brazil.”

— Reporting for Reuters by Eduardo Simoes; writing by Gabriel Araujo.

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Climate change, driven by the burning of fossil fuels, also made the fires as much as 50 per cent more intense, according to the analysis by World Weather Attribution group, a global team of scientists that examines the role played by climate change in extreme weather.

“Climate change is greatly increasing the flammability of the fuel available for wildfires — this means that a single spark, regardless of its source, can rapidly turn into a blazing inferno,” said Yan Boulanger, a research scientist at Natural Resources Canada.

Rising global temperatures can yield more heatwaves, exacerbate drought and alter snow and rainfall patterns. This can dry out fuels, from grasses to trees, making them more likely to ignite and burn faster.

In many parts of Canada, snowfall acts as a limiting force for the start and spread of fires.

“This year, high temperatures led to the rapid thawing and disappearance of snow during May, particularly in eastern Quebec, resulting in unusually early wildfires,” said environmental scientist Philippe Gachon of the University of Quebec in Montreal.

Scientists reviewed weather data, including temperature, windspeed, humidity and precipitation, and used computer models to assess how climate change had altered fire weather this year, comparing it to preindustrial climate.

The Quebec fires are just one sliver of what has been the country’s worst wildfire season on record.

More than 14 million hectares so far have burned this year, amounting to roughly four per cent of Canada’s entire forest area, and more than six times the four-decade average of 2.3 million hectares, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre.

Wildfires continue to threaten the province of British Columbia, which on Friday declared a state of emergency as the federal government said it would send in the military to help tackle out-of-control fires.

Last week, most residents evacuated the city of Yellowknife, N.W.T. as fires crept closer to the territory’s capital.

— Gloria Dickie is a Reuters climate and environment correspondent in London, England.

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Forest fires continued to burn across Canada on Thursday, forcing thousands of people from their homes and sending a smoky haze billowing over a large swath of the United States.

Although wildfires are common in Canada, it is unusual for blazes to be burning simultaneously in the east and west, stretching firefighting resources and forcing the Canadian government to send in the military to help.

The United States has sent hundreds of firefighters to Canada over the past few weeks and is sending more.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday called on Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to double the number of U.S. personnel available to help fight wildfires in Canada.

“The climate crisis is real and it is here to stay. We must take action against the climate crisis, both short-term and long-term,” Schumer said in a speech on the Senate floor.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau thanked U.S. President Joe Biden for the help on Wednesday, and discussed the need to “work together to address the devastating impacts of climate change,” according to a statement from Trudeau’s office.

France, Portugal and Spain were sending more than 280 firefighters, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Thursday. South Africa, Australia and New Zealand have also sent personnel.

Some of the worst fires have sprung up in Quebec, where some 12,600 people have had to evacuate their homes, provincial Public Safety Minister Francois Bonnardel told a briefing on Thursday.

“We’re not happy about the situation; though some fires are under control, some (are) not,” Bonnardel told reporters. About 132 fires are currently active in the province, of which 77 are deemed “out of control.” (Click here for Quebec weather radar.)

About 3.8 million hectares (9.4 million acres) have already burned, roughly 15 times the annual average of the past decade, according to federal Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair. Warm, dry conditions were expected to persist in the months ahead.

Wildfire season started unseasonably early in Alberta last month and burned a record area, and Nova Scotia continues to battle its largest-ever blaze.

In parts of British Columbia, which is battling the second-biggest wildfire on record, temperatures were forecast to hit 33 C on Thursday, before thunderstorms and heavy rains arrive on Friday.

Rob Schweitzer, executive director of BC Wildfire, said lightning strikes could spark more blazes in tinder-dry forests and the outcome would depend on how much precipitation comes with the storms.

“When you get 150 or 200 strikes in one day from lightning coming through the province, it’s impossible to have enough resources to suppress them all,” he said.

Wildfires have eased in Alberta, the centre of Canada’s oil and gas industry, but more than 3,000 people remain under evacuation orders and heat warnings are in effect in the south of the province. The province on Thursday reported 73 active wildfires, of which 24 are deemed “out of control.”

Among the other western provinces, British Columbia on Thursday was reporting 79 active fires, of which 30 are listed “out of control.” Saskatchewan reported 29 active fires, with six deemed “not contained,” while Manitoba reported 14 active or monitored fires with three deemed “out of control.”

Further east, Ontario was counting 48 active or observed fires with 18 listed as “not under control.”

Nova Scotia on Thursday was reporting five active fires out of 212 so far this year; its current fires are all deemed under control or being held, while New Brunswick reported two active fires being patrolled. Newfoundland and Labrador is monitoring one “contained” active fire, in Labrador, out of 72 fires so far this year in that province.

— Reporting for Reuters by Nia Williams in British Columbia and Ismail Shakil and David Ljunggren in Ottawa. Includes files from Glacier FarmMedia Network staff.

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As of Tuesday evening 89 wildfires are active in Alberta, with 25 out of control, according to the provincial government, forcing about 20,000 people out of their homes.

A cold front bringing gusty northwest wind, but little rain, was likely on Tuesday, according to Environment Canada’s weather department.

The change in wind direction can pose a problem for firefighters as the path of the fires changes suddenly, said Christie Tucker, spokesperson for the Alberta Wildfire agency.

Evacuation orders and alerts have also been sounded in neighbouring British Columbia, where as of Tuesday evening 61 wildfires are active, and Saskatchewan, where 28 wildfires are active with five ranked as “not contained.”

“The arrival of sustained winds from the north has resulted in aggressive fire behaviour on all wildfires within the north Peace Region,” the B.C. Wildfire Service said late Monday.

Saskatchewan on Tuesday reported it has had more than double the amount of wildfires usually seen at this time of year. Evacuation orders were recently issued at communities including Buffalo Narrows and Dillon, about 250 km north of Meadow Lake.

With fire risk rated high to extreme across much of the province, Saskatchewan on Tuesday also imposed a fire ban for Crown lands and provincial parks north of the Yellowhead Highway (Highway 16) and for the Northern Saskatchewan Administration District.

The Canadian military and firefighters from across Canada and the U.S. are helping fight the blazes in Alberta.

“We will build better,” Judy Levesque, who lost her house at Drayton Valley, said while fighting back tears. “We planned to renovate so now we get to do it quicker.”

“That’s the attitude we have to have because it’s too sad the other way.”

Drayton Valley, a town of almost 7,000 people about 100 km southwest of Edmonton, was under evacuation order up until Tuesday afternoon. Twenty-three full or partial evacuation orders remain in effect for various towns, municipalities, First Nation communities and Metis settlements in northern and western Alberta.

At one point Alberta’s fires forced oil and gas producers to shut in at least 319,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, or 3.7 per cent of national production.

On Tuesday morning, Calgary-based Crescent Point Energy said it was shutting in its Kaybob Duvernay production, impacting 45,000 boepd, as a precautionary measure due to changing wildfire conditions. Benchmark Canadian heavy crude prices have risen to their highest levels in months on concerns about the wildfires.

Farther west in B.C., the hot weather is causing rapid snow melt that has increased river flow and prompted authorities to issue a flood warning for part of the Skeena region.

— Reporting for Reuters by Ismail Shakil in Ottawa, Anna Mehler Paperny in Toronto and Rod Nickel in Winnipeg. Includes files from Glacier FarmMedia Network staff.

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More than 100 wildfires have ignited across Alberta since last week, forcing tens of thousands of people to evacuate homes, farms and ranches, and oil and gas producers to shut in at least 319,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), or 3.7 per cent of the country’s production.

A few days of cooler weather and rain helped firefighters tackle some blazes. There were 74 fires burning and about 16,500 evacuees as of Friday afternoon, officials in Alberta said in a briefing.

Although recent cooling helped to restore most of the shuttered oil and gas production, expectations of rising temperatures over the weekend have raised concerns about further production cuts and evacuations.

Earlier on Friday, Crescent Point Energy said it has now restarted 85 per cent of the 45,000 boepd of production that it shut in due to the wildfire risk.

“The wildfire danger is expected to grow in the coming days,” an Alberta Wildfire official said at the briefing. “We are expecting hot and dry conditions in most of the province, which will make the wildfire danger climb.”

Benchmark Canadian heavy crude prices have tightened this week to multi-month highs on concerns about wildfires in Alberta.

“Everybody is looking at the weather,” said one Calgary-based trader. “There’s a higher probability for more disruption than less.”

The highest temperatures are expected to hit from Sunday to Tuesday.

“Maximum daytime highs will be close to 30 C, which would be 10 to 15 C above seasonal values,” Environment Canada said in a special weather statement.

Around 200 soldiers have been deployed around Alberta to help fight the fires, and another 100 will be deployed over the weekend.

— Reporting for Reuters by Nia Williams, with additional reporting by Ismail Shakil in Ottawa.

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As of early Thursday evening, the province was tracking 76 active wildfires, of which 22 were listed as “out of control” and 17 as “being held,” with 37 deemed under control.

The Alberta government on Saturday declared a provincial state of emergency, a legal status which allows for a higher level of intergovernmental co-ordination, around-the-clock situation monitoring, emergency discretionary funds and the ability to mobilize additional supports.

Firefighting in central parts of the province has benefited from recent moisture and cooler temperatures, the province said Wednesday, but added that conditions are expected to get hotter and drier by the weekend.

Fire danger remains “extreme” in many northern areas, the province said Wednesday, adding that “despite cooler temperatures elsewhere, a wildfire can still start easily and spread quickly in these conditions.”

The province on Wednesday advised producers to contact the Alberta Association of Agricultural Societies if seeking space for evacuated livestock. The association has an online list of contacts for local ag societies offering assistance.

Alberta Beef Producers, on its website, also offers a map of facilities such as rodeo and sports grounds made available for evacuated animals, along with listings of other resources for affected ranchers.

The organization also notes some members of the Alberta Auction Markets Association may have space available; the association can be reached at 780-789-3915 (north) or 403-358-0456 (south).

To help keep track of evacuated livestock, Animal Health Canada’s emergency management division has a template of a livestock evacuation documentation form on its website.

The province has reiterated that any evacuated farmers and ranchers can contact the provincial wildfire resource line at 310-4455 with ag- or livestock-related questions, and should also register at the evacuees’ reception centre for their community so staff can connect them with any needed resources.

Evacuated livestock producers may also need re-entry permits if they want to go back into an evacuated area to check on livestock, and should check with their municipality before entering, the province said.

The province’s Agriculture Financial Services Corp. (AFSC) said Wednesday its lending clients may be eligible for financial relief including payment deferrals, loan restructuring or approvals of short-term working capital loans.

Perennial crop producers with acres under moisture deficiency insurance (MDI) have a pasture spot loss fire benefit for fires caused by accident and/or lightning, triggered by a minimum burn of 100 acres, AFSC noted.

Annual crop growers with a hail endorsement on insured acres are covered for losses caused by accidental fire or fire by lightning, AFSC added. Producers with hay insurance and/or annual production insurance who have not elected the hail endorsement option are covered for fire caused by lightning, but not for accidental fires.

AFSC also noted the federal/provincial AgriStability ag income stabilization program will consider losses caused by accidental fire or fire by lightning when calculating a participant’s program year margins.

Evacuations

Communities covered by 13 full or partial evacuation orders as of Wednesday evening had included Drayton Valley, Fox Creek, Lac Ste. Anne, Rainbow Lake; the counties of Brazeau, Grande Prairie and Yellowhead; the Whitefish Lake, Sturgeon Lake Cree, Little Red River Cree (Fox Lake), O’Chiese and Beaver First Nations; the Gift Lake and East Prairie Metis settlements; and the municipal district of Greenview. As of Wednesday evening, 15 evacuation alerts were also in effect.

As of Thursday evening, however, the province reported nine evacuation orders remained in effect, covering a total of 16,493 evacuees. It also confirmed the evacuation order has been lifted for the remainder of Yellowhead County.

The province reported Thursday that the Canadian Armed Forces has deployed members of the Third Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (3PPCLI) and One Combat Engineer Regiment (1CER) to the Grande Prairie, Fox Creek and Drayton Valley areas. Army reserve soldiers from across the province are also deploying this week, the province said.

Over 800 wildland firefighters from multiple provinces, along with heavy equipment and airtankers, were responding to wildfires in Alberta as of Thursday evening.

Canadian National Railway, which said May 6 it had suspended service on its Edson subdivision running from Edmonton and Jasper due to fires in the Edson area, resumed operations on that section of its mainline the following Monday.

“Network fluidity was affected as train speed was reduced, and safety crews were required to spray tracks with water after every train,” CN said in its most recent weekly report on western Canadian grain handling.

The May 6-8 stoppage “also impacted the movement of traffic headed to the Edson subdivision, as dozens of trains in the western region were forced to wait until the danger had passed.” — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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The province declared a state of emergency on Saturday in response to wildfires in northern and central regions that have displaced nearly 30,000 people and prompted energy producers to shut in at least 185,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), about two per cent of Canada’s output.

As of Monday evening the province was reporting 88 wildfires still active, with 25 classified as out-of-control.

“We’re crossing our fingers. We need rain big-time,” said John Kokotilo, fire chief for Lac La Biche county.

Some 80 firefighters arrived from Quebec and Ontario to help efforts, with more expected from other provinces.

Alberta has formally requested assistance from the federal government, Premier Danielle Smith tweeted, adding she had a “very productive call” with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

“We talked a lot about the different ways the federal government can help and we will be working to make sure that we’re supporting Albertans right across the province as necessary,” Trudeau said in televised remarks.

Christie Tucker, spokesperson for Alberta’s wildfire agency, said on Sunday the season was “unprecedented in recent memory” because there are so many fires, spread so widely.

Alberta is Canada’s biggest cattle-producing province. Some ranchers were moving livestock away from fires to rodeo grounds or other public places, but no cattle are known to have died from fire or smoke, Karin Schmid of Alberta Beef Producers said.

Farmers in some areas are already dealing with drought, and the fires will likely further set back the growth of hay and grass to feed cattle, Schmid added.

Canadian National Railway said Saturday on Twitter that it had “safely suspended” service on its Edson subdivision until further notice due to fires near Edson, about 200 km west of Edmonton.

The Edson subdivision, which runs from Edmonton west to Jasper, is CN’s lone mainline connection through the Rocky Mountains. Parts of the town of Edson and surrounding Yellowhead County were among areas still under evacuation order as of Monday morning.

Parts of Brazeau, Grande Prairie, Big Lakes, Lac Ste. Anne, Parkland and Yellowhead counties and the municipal district of Greenview remained under mandatory evacuation Monday evening, along with communities such as Drayton Valley, Fox Creek, Entwistle and Rainbow Lake.

Canada is also the world’s fourth-largest crude oil producer, and about 80 per cent of its oil comes from Alberta.

The oil and gas shut-ins looked temporary and have had no immediate impact on energy prices, said Mark Oberstoetter, head of Americas upstream research for consultancy Wood Mackenzie.

So far there are no reports of significant damage to infrastructure and production is expected to be restored once the wildfires come under control, BMO Capital Markets said in a note.

NuVista Energy said it has temporarily shut in about 40,000 boepd as a precaution, while TC Energy said it has shut down two compressor stations on its NGTL gas pipeline system, which connects most of the natural gas produced in western Canada to domestic and export markets.

“Other sections of the NGTL system and other pipeline systems continue to operate safely and we continue to monitor the situation closely,” TC said in a statement.

Canadian daily natural gas exports to the U.S. fell to 6.7 billion cubic feet on Sunday, their lowest since April 2021, according to data provider Refinitiv. It was not immediately clear how much of the drop was fire-related.

— Reporting for Reuters by Denny Thomas and Sam Jabri-Pickett in Toronto, Rod Nickel in Winnipeg, Scott DiSavino in New York and Nia Williams in British Columbia. Includes files from Glacier FarmMedia Network staff.

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The hog market extended recent losses under pressure from concerns about the potential for easing U.S. export demand and rising supplies, analysts said.

Pig prices in China, the world’s biggest pork consumer, are substantially lower than in the United States, raising worries that Chinese buyers will reduce purchases, said Don Roose, president of Iowa-based broker U.S. Commodities.

China’s hog prices have tumbled this year on increased supplies and over fears from fresh outbreaks of the pig disease African swine fever.

“On the export front, I think there’s some real concern,” Roose said.

CME October lean hog futures ended down 0.4 cent at 80.375 cents/lb. and hit their lowest price since March 4. December hogs fell 1.2 cents, to 72.175 cents/lb., and hit its lowest price since Feb. 26.

In the cattle market, the rebound in futures prices came as meatpacker JBS said it resumed operations at a beef plant at Grand Island, Nebraska after a fire halted production on Monday.

The JBS plant has the capacity to slaughter 6,000 cattle a day, about five per cent of U.S. cattle, according to industry estimates.

Meatpackers on Tuesday slaughtered 120,000 cattle nationwide, up from 114,000 on Monday, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data.

CME December live cattle closed up 2.5 cents at 129.65 cents/lb. after falling Monday to their lowest price since June 1. October feeder cattle climbed 2.7 cents, to 158.15 cents/lb., after touching its lowest since June 11 on Monday.

“We just overdid it to the downside,” Roose said.

— Tom Polansek reports on agriculture and ag commodities for Reuters from Chicago.

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JBS, owned by Brazilian firm JBS SA, halted production at the plant in Grand Island, Nebraska, which slaughters about five per cent of U.S. cattle. The company later said it expects to resume operations on Tuesday.

Uncertainty about when the plant will reopen rattled cattle futures because the industry does not have extra capacity to process livestock at other plants, analysts said. That means cattle could back up in feedlots and on ranches if a major plant closes for an extended period of time.

“When you lose that packing capacity, there’s going to be more cattle than capacity to go around,” said Matt Wiegand, a risk management consultant and commodity broker at FuturesOne in Nebraska. “Then you’re going to get cheaper cattle.”

CME December live cattle tumbled 1.075 cent to 127.15 cents/lb. and reached their lowest price since June 1. October feeder cattle slid 2.275 cents, to 155.45 cents/lb., touching its lowest since June 11.

Boxed beef prices eased even though production dipped due to the plant fire. Choice cuts of boxed beef fell $1.29, to $325.93/cwt, while select cuts dropped $1.21, to $292.16/cwt, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said.

The JBS plant has the capacity to slaughter 6,000 cattle a day, according to industry estimates. Meatpackers typically slaughter about 120,000 cattle per day nationwide.

On Monday, meat companies processed 114,000 cattle and 471,000 hogs, according to the USDA.

In the pork market, hog futures extended a recent slump. Most-active CME October lean hog futures declined 1.675 cents, to 80.775 cents/lb., and hit its lowest price since March 22.

— Tom Polansek reports on agriculture and ag commodities for Reuters from Chicago.

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The temporary closure highlighted concerns among lawmakers and ranchers that the U.S. is vulnerable to supply disruptions because a handful of meatpacking companies dominate the sector and rely on large plants to produce food.

The country has suffered a series of beef supply shocks over the past two years as large plants closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a cyberattack that crippled JBS’s operations, and another fire that shut a Tyson Foods plant in Kansas for months.

The JBS fire at Grand Island, about 230 km west of Omaha, did not impact the plant’s “primary production areas,” spokesperson Nikki Richardson said.

The company, a subsidiary of Brazilian firm JBS SA, expects to resume operations on Tuesday pending an ongoing assessment of the situation, she said.

The blaze burned a hole in the roof of the part of the plant that handles rendering, and damage is confined to the rendering area, said Cory Schmidt, chief of the Grand Island Fire Department.

“Fortunately, JBS is very modular so if one area has an issue, for the most part it doesn’t affect the other areas,” he said.

The plant has the capacity to slaughter 6,000 cattle a day, according to a daily livestock report from Steiner Consulting Group. Meatpackers slaughter about 120,000 cattle per day nationwide.

“This year, processing capacity has already been squeezed by COVID disruptions and labour availability and the industry can ill afford losing a big processing plant like this,” Steiner Consulting said.

— Tom Polansek reports on agriculture and ag commodities for Reuters from Chicago.

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