Dan Riskin

TORONTO — Wildfires have menaced Western Canada this summer, most notably the blaze that burned down most of Lytton, B.C. Climate change is a key driver of the increased fire activity of recent years, but it’s not the only contributing factor. How we fight wildfires also plays a role in how they spread. Actively extinguishing them means fewer trees burn, but it also means there are more surviving dry trees just waiting for the next fire. Researchers in the U.S. looked into whether our wildfire suppression efforts are inadvertently helping to create the conditions for more severe fires in the future. In this week’s Riskin Report, CTV News Science and Technology Specialist Dan Riskin explains what they found – and what we can learn from past mistakes to ensure the health of our forests.