'Zombie' Fires From Summer Season Continue Burning Long Into Winter Months in Canada

Zombie fires from the summer continue to simmer underground despite winter months. This is the case in Canada, and there are fears that they could turn into blown-out wildfires as spring approaches.

Zombie Fires in Canada

The Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre reports that there are 92 active fires in British Columbia, 54 in Alberta, and a few more in the Northwest Territories.

In Canada, summertime is when wildfire activity usually increases, especially in the western provinces and territories where conditions are dry and lightning strikes are frequent.

British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Yukon, and the Northwest Territories are among the regions in Canada most prone to wildfires. Large tracts of forest exist in these places, and the appropriate circumstances could cause an ignition. A record 2,220 fires broke out in British Columbia in 2023, burning 2,830,808 hectares (6,995,078.9 acres).

Larger fires can occasionally rage during the winter, scorching the ground's soil and roots. Sometimes, the only thing illuminating these fires is the smoke rising from them.

"Smoldering fires are flaming fires that have entered 'energy-saver mode," Rebecca Scholten, a researcher at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, said in a NASA Earth Observatory post in 2021. "These fires are only just surviving based on the resources they have-oxygen and fuel-and can transition back into flaming fires once conditions are more favorable."

Ten days ahead of schedule, Alberta declared an early start to the wildfire season on Tuesday because of concerns about the approaching warmer weather. The frequency and intensity of wildfires in Canada and the United States have been associated with climate change. This is because drier conditions, facilitated by rising temperatures and altered rainfall patterns, make it easier for flames to start and spread.

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What Is a Zombie Fire?

Zombie fires are also called overwintering fires. They are fires that start during one fire season, smolder under the snow during the winter, and then reappear early in the spring before human-caused ignitions and lightning start to intensify.

Researcher Michael Mehta added that zombie fires will be active under the snow and come back again in the spring. Some of the fires that you probably have this year are the result of that.

He added that it was difficult to be certain at this time whether the Canadian wildfire was a zombie fire, but Mehta said one thing is certain - this isn't just going to be a summer problem.

According to him, the public would have to deal with zombie fires not just for the rest of the summer but probably for the rest of their lives. He adds that it is something that has been predicted for decades going forward, so people have to learn to live with it.

According to a 2021 study conducted using satellite data, zombie or "overwinter" fires are becoming more frequent in Arctic woods, most likely as a result of climate change. Overwinter fires are encouraged by the same hot, dry weather that contributes to large wildfire seasons. Furthermore, these kinds of fires might be a part of a positive feedback loop, rekindling to start even more fires the following year.

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