Dustan Mueller had come to expect the unexpected. The US Forest Service (USFS) deputy fire chief had been deployed thousands of kilometres from home to battle an out-of-control blaze in the wooded bogs and swampland of Alberta, Canada.
In the dry forests of northern California he was used to, a rainstorm would probably mean an end to the fire. But in this terrain, even a latespring storm could do little to slow the flames: two days after being doused, the conflagration roared back to life.
"It is nothing like what we have in California," said Mueller, now back in the US after leading an American team of federal wildland firefighters to tag in on one of the 2,765 fires that have erupted in Canada this year. "The trees are like little matchsticks - and just as flammable."
Canada is in the midst of a record-shattering fire season that has left more than 5.7 m hectares charred and stretched emergency resources to the limit - with months of the season left.
Across Canada last week, 161 fires were burning, with 78 of them considered to be out of control. And the effects of these large fires aren't just local: thick smoke blanketed swathes of the US in early June while last week, Chicago and Detroit briefly had the most unhealthy air in the world as a new wave of ashen air drifted south.
Denne historien er fra July 07, 2023-utgaven av The Guardian Weekly.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra July 07, 2023-utgaven av The Guardian Weekly.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
If kids get protected from online harm, how about the rest of us?
The Australian government has proposed a ban on social media for all citizens under 16.
'It's not drought - it's looting'
Spain is increasingly either parched or flooded - and one group is profiting from these extremes: the thirsty multinational companies forcing angry citizens to pay for water in bottles.
Life in the grey Zone
Neonatal care has advanced so far that babies born as early as 21 weeks have survived. But is this type of care always the right thing to do?
Out of tune? Band Aid under fire for Africa tropes as it turns 40
Forty years ago this month, a group of pop stars gathered at a west London studio to record a single that would raise millions, inspire further starry projects, and ultimately change charity fundraising in the UK.
Deaths shine spotlight on risks of drinking on party trail
Vang Vieng is an unlikely party hub. Surrounded by striking limestone mountains and caves in central Laos, it morphed from a small farming town to a hedonistic tourist destination in the early 2000s.
Different strokes My strange and emotional week with an AI pet
Moflin can develop a personality and build a rapport with its owner - and doesn't need food or exercise. But is it comforting or alienating?
Strike zone Waking up to the rising threat of lightning
When the Barbados National Archives, home to one of the world's most significant collections of documents from the transatlantic slave trade, reported in June that it had been struck by lightning, it received sympathy and offers of support locally and internationally.
Cheap pints and sticky carpets: the old-school pub is back
In the Palm Tree pub, east London, barman Alf is taking only cash at the rattling 1960s till.
Brain gain Can a radical tax scheme convince the country's brightest to stay?
In the autumn of 2018, I moved to Lisbon for a month-long course at the Universidade .de Lisboa.
Fear and sympathy in small town divided over asylum camp
A year after anti-immigration riots, a site for asylum seekers faces hostility while some locals try to help new arrivals
