This year's wildfire season is already the second-worst on record in Canada, and experts are warning that this might be the new normal.

More than 7.3 million hectares have burned this year so far, more than double the 10-year average for this time of year, according to the latest figures from the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC) and Natural Resources Canada.

"It's the size of New Brunswick, to put it into context," Mike Flannigan, a professor of wildland fire at Thompson Rivers University, told CBC News.

The last three fire seasons are among the 10 worst on record, according to a federal database dating back to 1972, with 2023's devastating blazes taking the top spot.

"I've never seen three bad fire seasons in a row," Flannigan, who has been studying fires since the '70s

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