File:Fires in northern Canada (MODIS 2015-06-08).jpg

English: The 2015 Canadian fire season is off to an early � and intense start. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) aboard NASA Aqua satellite captured this true-color image of fires burning in northern Canada on May 29.

Hot spots speckle the region, with large fires evident in Northwest Territories (north), British Columbia (southwest) and Alberta (southeast). Each red hotspot indicates an area where the thermal sensors on the satellite detected temperatures higher than background. When combined with smoke, as in this image, such hotspots are diagnostic of actively burning fire. Great Bear Lake (north) remains ice-covered, while the ice on Great Slave Lake (south) is beginning to thaw.

Wildfire season in Canada is starting somewhat early this year due to higher than normal temperatures earlier in the season. According to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, Inc., as of June 7, the number of fires to date in 2015 is 2,715, with over 462,855 hectares (1,143,739 acres) burned. The same number to date in 2014 was 1,343 fires burning a total of 39,873 hectares (98,528 acres).

On May 31, the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System website reported that, "Nationally, the number of fires and the area burned have increased dramatically from last week, and are now well above average for this time of year. The majority of this week�s fires have occurred in British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan (21%, 26% and 13% respectively), while the majority of the area burned was in Alberta and Saskatchewan (23% and 40% respectively). Seasonal fire occurrence and area burned are both above the 10-year average." Fortunately, cold fronts carrying rain have passed over the region since that report, and more are predicted. New fires continue to ignite, but some hope exists for decreased ignition as the weather remains rainy.