The thick summer air hanging over White River, Ontario felt heavier than usual last week. Not from humidity, but from smoke—the kind that doesn’t respect national boundaries. Standing at the coordination center where American and Canadian firefighters huddled over maps, I watched a scene that’s becoming increasingly familiar across North America.
“Twenty years ago, this level of cooperation would have been exceptional,” said Jim Reynolds, a veteran Canadian wildfire coordinator I spoke with at the site. “Now it’s becoming routine necessity.”
As Canada faces another potentially devastating wildfire season, U.S. Ambassador David Cohen has emphasized that the cross-border challenge requires deeper integration of resources and planning. During his address at the Canada-United States Interparliamentary Group meeting in Washington, Cohen pointed to climate change as the accelerant making these fires increasingly dangerous and difficult to contain.
“When Canadian forests burn, American lungs suffer,” Cohen told the assembled legislators. “When American communities evacuate, Canadian resources stretch thin to help. These fires offer a stark reminder that our environmental security is fundamentally intertwined.”
This message resonates with communities along both sides of the world’s longest international border. Last summer, smoke from Canadian wildfires turned skies orange as far south as Virginia and blanketed New York City in hazardous air that prompted public health warnings and canceled outdoor events. According to Environment Canada data, the 2023 wildfire season burned more than 18.5 million hectares—surpassing all previous records and creating air quality emergencies in both countries.
When I visited Fort Nelson last autumn, residents were still recounting the terror of evacuation orders that came with little warning. Jennifer Wolfleg, a local teacher, described the experience as traumatic. “One day you’re planning your garden, the next you’re deciding which family photos to grab before fleeing,” she told me. “When American firefighters showed up, it felt like family coming to help.”
The relationship works both ways. Canadian firefighters have deployed to Washington, Oregon, and California during critical western U.S. fire seasons. This reciprocal assistance operates through the Canada/United States Reciprocal Forest Fire Fighting Arrangement, established in 1982 and now proving more essential than ever.
Dr. Ellen Whitman, a forest fire research scientist with Natural Resources Canada, explains that climate change is fundamentally altering fire behavior. “We’re seeing fires that create their own weather systems, jump containment lines that would have been sufficient in previous decades, and burn with intensity that challenges conventional suppression techniques,” she said during our interview earlier this year.
The financial implications are equally sobering. According to Public Safety Canada, the cost of fighting wildfires has more than doubled since the early 2000s, with annual expenditures now regularly exceeding $1 billion. This excludes the broader economic impacts of evacuations, infrastructure damage, and health costs related to smoke exposure.
Ambassador Cohen’s comments highlight the need for strengthening what already works well between the countries while addressing emerging gaps. Current cooperation focuses primarily on sharing firefighting resources during active emergencies. But experts increasingly call for joint investment in prevention, community preparation, and Indigenous knowledge integration.
Harold Michell, a wildfire mitigation specialist with the Carrier Sekani Tribal Council in British Columbia, believes traditional knowledge must play a central role. “Our communities have managed these forests with controlled burns for thousands of years,” Michell explained when I visited Prince George last spring. “When colonial forest management eliminated traditional burning practices, we set the stage for the mega-fires we’re seeing today.”
The diplomatic emphasis comes as both countries prepare for what meteorologists warn could be another challenging season. Climate models from Environment Canada and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predict above-average temperatures across much of western and northern Canada this summer, potentially creating ideal conditions for fire ignition and spread.
The health impacts extend beyond those directly threatened by flames. Dr. Sarah Henderson of the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control has documented how wildfire smoke contributes to increased hospitalizations for respiratory and cardiovascular conditions, particularly among vulnerable populations. “We’re only beginning to understand the cumulative health effects of repeated seasonal exposure to this level of air pollution,” Henderson noted in research published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
Perhaps most concerning is the feedback loop these fires create. As forests burn, they release stored carbon, contributing to the very climate change making fires more frequent and severe. Research from Natural Resources Canada estimates that in extreme fire years, emissions from Canadian wildfires can equal up to 20 percent of the country’s annual industrial emissions.
As I left White River, the coordination center was preparing for another day of strategizing. Maps spread across tables showed fire risk zones that paid no attention to the international boundary line. American firefighters lined up for coffee alongside their Canadian counterparts, sharing stories of fires fought together in seasons past.
“This isn’t just about being good neighbors,” Reynolds told me as we walked to my car. “It’s about survival. Neither country can face what’s coming alone.”
The smoke hanging in the air seemed to underscore his point—a visible reminder that when it comes to wildfire, there is no border, only shared vulnerability and, potentially, shared resilience.
