First Nations Firefighters and Ignored Plans as Ontario Burns
July 24, 2026
As a record-breaking El Niño and compounding climate extremes unleash unprecedented wildfire seasons across the Canadian shield, First Nations emergency plans and frontline firefighting crews are systematically bypassed by provincial leaders like Doug Ford. This administrative abandonment converts climate catastrophes into tests of Indigenous resilience, exposing how institutional authority fails to protect vulnerable populations while prioritizing industrial and extractivist extraction.
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Experts alarmed by gathering El Niño that could break records
Most Australian capital cities have an at least 80 per cent chance of unusually warm and dry spring as climatologists watch the developing system with increasing alarm.
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As Canadian politicians promise a carbon emissions fix, the country burns. Here’s what you need to know
Deadly wildfire seasons — made worse by climate change — are ravaging the country. Politicians from Harper to Carney have for two decades promised carbon capture technology would slow Canada’s contribution to global warming
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First Nations had a wildfire plan. Ontario ignored it. Then came the flames
Premier Doug Ford was presented with dozens of recommendations to improve emergency response in northern Ontario. Little progress was made before the deadliest wildfire season on record
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Wildfires: what can the UK and other nations learn from Australia’s world-leading fire response systems?
A wildfire in Tasmania in 2021. Matt Palmer/Unsplash, CC BY-ND Wildfires are becoming a feature of the UK’s hotter, drier climate, as they are in much of Europe. In July 2026, major fires swept through parts of the UK in a matter of days – notably setting Arthur’s Seat, the extinct volcano in the ce…
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Officials say 180 fires are burning in northern Ontario
Officials with Ontario's Ministry of Natural Resources put the active number of wildfires burning in the north at 180, with seven new blazes sparked yesterday.
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We’re building climate resilience. Who is left behind?
If we build climate adaptation for those most likely to be left behind during disasters such as wildfires, we will build stronger, safer communities for everyone.
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This El Niño will be the hottest by a huge margin
The super El Niño now developing in the tropical Pacific has a 90 per cent chance of becoming the strongest in 150 years, breaking global temperature records and unleashing extreme weather
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The First Nations Firefighters Racing Toward Canada’s Biggest Blazes
These elite crews are often the first to arrive—and the last to leave The First Nations Firefighters Racing Toward Canada’s Biggest Blazes first appeared on The Walrus.
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Doug Ford left First Nations in Ontario to burn
As wildfires spread across the north, First Nation communities say they were abandoned without warning, support or evacuation plans. The catastrophe was years in the making, driven by a government that ignores climate science while prioritizing extraction and profit over Indigenous lives The post Do…