The sharing of firefighters, water bombers and other resources reached its breaking point this summer, when the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, which co-ordinates the transfer of personnel and equipment coast to coast, reported that demand for resources was “extreme.” Fire seasons are getting increasingly destructive, but 2023 was particularly bad. Canada used firefighters and equipment from the United States, as well as Australia, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, France, Mexico, Chile, Costa Rica, Brazil, South Africa and South Korea. More than 7,300 people were mobilized, more than double the previous record. The CAFC’s annual survey of its members, found 90 per cent of fire departments across the country were involved with responding to a wildfire in some capacity, but only half had the equipment necessary to “meet the needs for wildfire season.” [A subscription to the Globe and Mail is required to read this article.]