Canada Smoke

[TwinsBrewersWorldSeries]

In the midst of a big family gathering in the WI Dells.  It was a hot sunny day yesterday until about 7:30pm when the smoke rolled in with fury.

air quality pretty bad today.  I remember a couple years ago having some bad air quality from the fires, but that seemed more minimal last year.

superior’s air quality jumped to over 900 this morning (catastrophic).  Can anyone recall seeing a number this high?  Seems like 2/3 of Canada is burning.   Is this recent of potential changes in climate (drier & hotter) or what is causing these fires the last 4-5 years?

[homer]

It's weird where I live, because I'm near the lake and there's often fog but its usually not yellow. I haven't been outside during this latest round of fires but what was so disturbing the last time was you could smell smoke. I don't ever recall being able to smell smoke from Canada at any point in life before that.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

This is worse than it's ever been in my area. You can feel it with every breath.

Almost as bad as having to go on social media and see people suggest it's government gas and ask where the videos of the fires are.

[NeedMoreFans]

This smoke isn't just from Canada, there are fires in northern Minnesota as well.  They evacuated the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, and one of the fires is just outside of Ely, MN.  It's probably this bad due to the closer proximity the fires are to us.  

[Fear The Chorizo]

9 hours ago, TwinsBrewersWorldSeries said:

In the midst of a big family gathering in the WI Dells.  It was a hot sunny day yesterday until about 7:30pm when the smoke rolled in with fury.

air quality pretty bad today.  I remember a couple years ago having some bad air quality from the fires, but that seemed more minimal last year.

superior’s air quality jumped to over 900 this morning (catastrophic).  Can anyone recall seeing a number this high?  Seems like 2/3 of Canada is burning.   Is this recent of potential changes in climate (drier & hotter) or what is causing these fires the last 4-5 years?

Much of the cause goes back many, many decades when portions of these areas (including the boundary waters) were heavily logged and clearcut when they were more mature and established forests.  Then these areas saw too-dense regrowth of smaller spruce and other boreal type vegetation.  A significant  spruce budworm outbreak naturally follwed that, which decimated and killed off a ton of these smaller trees, particularly across the BWCA, leaving what amounts to a tinderbox of dead and/or diseased, standing small pine trees - wood that rots incredibly slowly and readily ignites.  

 

There has been a period of drought in the region, but the main issue is all the dead and densely packed timber through wilderness areas that have seen little to no forest management in recent decades - when lightning rolls through, it's like lighting matches on pine straw and the density of dead and dry fuel is going to cause wildfires.

 

I'm supposed to be up in the BWCA in mid August and remain hopeful these fires (at least those near Ely area) get contained to the point where entry permits arent cancelled for my trip....but local outfitters and people who live up there will all tell you this is going to keep happening until the dead and standing pine wood is significantly thinned out.

[Brian]

6 hours ago, NeedMoreFans said:

This smoke isn't just from Canada, there are fires in northern Minnesota as well.  They evacuated the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, and one of the fires is just outside of Ely, MN.  It's probably this bad due to the closer proximity the fires are to us.  

Because they refuse to do controlled burns.  MN and Canada express concern over how controlled burns affect the environment and our air quality.    

[homer]

They absolutely do controlled burns. Do they do enough of them? Who knows but they 100% do them.

[Fear The Chorizo]

9 minutes ago, homer said:

They absolutely do controlled burns. Do they do enough of them? Who knows but they 100% do them.

One of these fires at/near the BWCA was likely started by a controlled burn that never fully extinguished - so yes controlled burns are happening.  

The problem with this material is the window to do controlled burns and have any hope to actually control them is very, very small due to how much dead and standing timber there is over such a vast area.  So controlled burns are very small and limited to areas deemed too close to civilization/human development to risk a natural wildfire ripping through it unchecked.

Methods like creating extensive fire rows/fuel breaks and logging roads/lanes via targeted logging would also provide better access for responder/firefighting equipment and would be great additions to controlled burns, and could be done on a much larger scale without having to light things on fire - and revenue from that logging could be used by forest services to cover the costs to perform those activities.  Those things are not occurring at the levels necessary to prevent us from breathing woodsmoke in the upper midwest a few months each summer on what now feels like an annual basis.

[owbc]

So out in the PNW it was rare to have any major wildfire smoke prior to 2015. Around then a switch flipped and smoke is a near-yearly occurrence although the severity varies by year.

Climate change and the forestry management practices of the last 50 years have combined to make this seem like it hit all at once. 

I disagree with Fear the Chorizo, more intervention is not the solution and is how we landed in this predicament in the first place. Intervention can be done to protect communities but the wilderness areas should be left alone to go through their natural cycle of burning and regrowing. Historically the fires were far less intense prior to human intervention. 

We’ve been dealing with this out west for a while. We all have indoor air filters and we stay inside when there is smoke. The answer is that you’re going to have to adapt to dealing with the smoke. Sorry. The firefighting effort is all spent saving property and they have gotten quite skilled at that. 

[homer]

15 hours ago, Fear The Chorizo said:

One of these fires at/near the BWCA was likely started by a controlled burn that never fully extinguished - so yes controlled burns are happening.  

The problem with this material is the window to do controlled burns and have any hope to actually control them is very, very small due to how much dead and standing timber there is over such a vast area.  So controlled burns are very small and limited to areas deemed too close to civilization/human development to risk a natural wildfire ripping through it unchecked.

Methods like creating extensive fire rows/fuel breaks and logging roads/lanes via targeted logging would also provide better access for responder/firefighting equipment and would be great additions to controlled burns, and could be done on a much larger scale without having to light things on fire - and revenue from that logging could be used by forest services to cover the costs to perform those activities.  Those things are not occurring at the levels necessary to prevent us from breathing woodsmoke in the upper midwest a few months each summer on what now feels like an annual basis.

Even if that worked, it's not feasible given the scale of the forest in Canada. That country is 40% trees. 9% of the world's total forest. Almost 1 million square miles.

[SeaBass]

I went on Amazon today and their Today's Deals section is plastered with home air purifiers.

[Fear The Chorizo]

11 hours ago, owbc said:

So out in the PNW it was rare to have any major wildfire smoke prior to 2015. Around then a switch flipped and smoke is a near-yearly occurrence although the severity varies by year.

Climate change and the forestry management practices of the last 50 years have combined to make this seem like it hit all at once. 

I disagree with Fear the Chorizo, more intervention is not the solution and is how we landed in this predicament in the first place. Intervention can be done to protect communities but the wilderness areas should be left alone to go through their natural cycle of burning and regrowing. Historically the fires were far less intense prior to human intervention. 

We’ve been dealing with this out west for a while. We all have indoor air filters and we stay inside when there is smoke. The answer is that you’re going to have to adapt to dealing with the smoke. Sorry. The firefighting effort is all spent saving property and they have gotten quite skilled at that. 

I agree with some of this, strongly disagree with other parts of it.  Logging practices 100+ years ago that were done in a rushed effort to supply development with raw materials in the midwest created many of these problems, and inevitable population growth into areas that are historically prone to wildfires are also to blame.  I do agree allowing these wilderness areas to ultimately return to their original state is the longterm goal, but for that to happen without risking unnecessary property damage and human health risks over time, a measured approach to forest management in areas that were significantly altered by clearcutting practices is required. 

And historically, wildfires were just as intense and were far more expansive - there just weren't as many people on this planet and living near many of these wildfire-prone areas.

IMO using manmade climate change to explain away annual wildfires originating in portions of Canada and US that are now wilderness areas that were historically logged heavily and now sit completely unmanaged, creating a reactionary firefighting approach, is lazy - and quite frankly fails to focus on what measures can be done by humans to reduce risk as these forests work their way back towards equilibrium conditions (which by the way will and should always include wildfires).  Limited snow cover in this part of the country the past few years is a growing issue and concern that has played a role in spring and summer wildfire risk, but that comes and goes in cycles that have occurred forever.  Weather has typically played the chief role in when/where wildfires occur before humans got the idea they can control it.

p.s. - heavy rains overnight up there along the US/Canada border, and hope that at least helps knock things back and give firefighting teams more time to get control of what's burning.  Air quality in my area has improved a ton mainly due to a wind direction shift, I know it's still not great in many other parts of the country rn from this.

[Fear The Chorizo]

4 hours ago, homer said:

Even if that worked, it's not feasible given the scale of the forest in Canada. That country is 40% trees. 9% of the world's total forest. Almost 1 million square miles.

Wouldn't need to be across the entire country - focus on the areas previously disturbed by logging/human activity first and then expand that footprint around more remote areas of human development.  A huge portion of what you describe in Canada's forest hasn't been heavily logged, and while wildfires do occur in those areas they don't carry the property damage risk that disturbed forests closer to towns/homes/resorts do.

[owbc]

2 hours ago, Fear The Chorizo said:

I agree with some of this, strongly disagree with other parts of it.  Logging practices 100+ years ago that were done in a rushed effort to supply development with raw materials in the midwest created many of these problems, and inevitable population growth into areas that are historically prone to wildfires are also to blame.  I do agree allowing these wilderness areas to ultimately return to their original state is the longterm goal, but for that to happen without risking unnecessary property damage and human health risks over time, a measured approach to forest management in areas that were significantly altered by clearcutting practices is required. 

And historically, wildfires were just as intense and were far more expansive - there just weren't as many people on this planet and living near many of these wildfire-prone areas.

IMO using manmade climate change to explain away annual wildfires originating in portions of Canada and US that are now wilderness areas that were historically logged heavily and now sit completely unmanaged, creating a reactionary firefighting approach, is lazy - and quite frankly fails to focus on what measures can be done by humans to reduce risk as these forests work their way back towards equilibrium conditions (which by the way will and should always include wildfires).  Limited snow cover in this part of the country the past few years is a growing issue and concern that has played a role in spring and summer wildfire risk, but that comes and goes in cycles that have occurred forever.  Weather has typically played the chief role in when/where wildfires occur before humans got the idea they can control it.

p.s. - heavy rains overnight up there along the US/Canada border, and hope that at least helps knock things back and give firefighting teams more time to get control of what's burning.  Air quality in my area has improved a ton mainly due to a wind direction shift, I know it's still not great in many other parts of the country rn from this.

My understanding is that only about 20% of Canada’s wildfires occur in areas that have ever been logged. Not sure what the percentage of the current fires is but this is largely not something that can be solved by forest management. Most of the fires in Canada are occurring in areas far from any human intervention and nobody has the resources to do anything about it, nor should they. 

There’s no way that climate change (doesn’t matter if it’s manmade or natural) isn’t a major contributor. Wildfires are increasing across the world in areas with vastly different ecosystems and historical management practices. Of course weather is what starts the fires most of the time but that’s occurring in a situation where the dice are loaded. 

I’m in Montana right now and the forests around the town that I’m in have been proactively thinned and managed to reduce wildfire risk. I’m not denying the effectiveness of that approach near populated areas, but it isn’t realistic on any kind of scale that would put a dent in the smoke problem. 

[GAME05]

20 hours ago, owbc said:

Wildfires are increasing across the world

Only increasing in size and heat of individual fires, but the total number of fires is way way down. More development, more clearing land for agriculture and to a smaller degree some amount of activism which protests against controlled burns because of CO2 emissions (like Australia). Also fewer resources in a lot of places to set regular burns. I suspect arson is way up, too, along with idiots who don't control a campfire.

I suspect encroachment, development and management or lack thereof has contributed to a lot of the change in numbers which have also only been computer-modeled past 30 years ago.

I'll work big fires like that every now and again as a part of my job. It's an odd combination of fun, danger and exhaustion. One of the people killed in a recent one (Montana?) used to work for us. I'd met her before at a training and she was really impressive.

 

[Samurai Bucky]

On 7/16/2026 at 11:54 PM, owbc said:

So out in the PNW it was rare to have any major wildfire smoke prior to 2015. Around then a switch flipped and smoke is a near-yearly occurrence although the severity varies by year.

Climate change and the forestry management practices of the last 50 years have combined to make this seem like it hit all at once. 

I disagree with Fear the Chorizo, more intervention is not the solution and is how we landed in this predicament in the first place. Intervention can be done to protect communities but the wilderness areas should be left alone to go through their natural cycle of burning and regrowing. Historically the fires were far less intense prior to human intervention. 

We’ve been dealing with this out west for a while. We all have indoor air filters and we stay inside when there is smoke. The answer is that you’re going to have to adapt to dealing with the smoke. Sorry. The firefighting effort is all spent saving property and they have gotten quite skilled at that. 

I was thinking about checking my insurance to make sure I have fire coverage on my cabin in the north woods.

[JosephC]

On 7/16/2026 at 6:40 AM, TwinsBrewersWorldSeries said:

superior’s air quality jumped to over 900 this morning (catastrophic).  Can anyone recall seeing a number this high?  Seems like 2/3 of Canada is burning.   Is this recent of potential changes in climate (drier & hotter) or what is causing these fires the last 4-5 years?

Back in the late 80's/early 90's, there were a couple bars that I frequently visited where the air quality meter was probably over 10,000.