Daily News for June 25, 2026

Today’s Takeaway

Trump delays US housing bill aimed at boosting homebuilding

The Tree Frog Forestry News
June 25, 2026
Category: Today's Takeaway

Despite bipartisan and industry support, President Trump postponed enactment of the housing bill, saying he will not sign it until Congress passes voter legislation. In other Business news:  BC trade slowed in April as forestry exports declined; US core inflation accelerated in May; new US home sales fell in May; and US sawmill output slipped as industry capacity declined. Meanwhile: Kurt Niquidet announced his departure from COFI and the BC Lumber Trade Council; and Mike Doss was appointed CEO of Global Cellulose Fibers.

In Forestry news: Indigenous-led forest rehabilitation work continues in BC’s Chilcotin; the Syilx Okanagan Nation seeks emergency order on caribou; Newfoundland explores how forest management can benefit pollinators; Arizona employs soil sensors to manage flooding and wildfires; and the UK plans tougher rules to curb illegal deforestation. Meanwhile: Quebec banned open fires in or near forests; the growing severity of California wildfires; and wildfire updates from BC and Utah.

Finally, US firefighters will be encouraged to wear N95 respirators in major policy reversal.

Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog News Editor

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Business & Politics

Kurt Niquidet to step down from COFI and BC Lumber Trade Council

By Kurt Niquidet
LinkedIn
June 24, 2026
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada West

Kurt Niquidet

After seven years with the BC Council of Forest Industries, today is my last day with the organization. It has been a privilege to serve as Chief Economist and, over the past two years, as President of the BC Lumber Trade Council. Thank you to everyone who shared their time, expertise, and friendship along the way. The relationships I’ve built and the experiences I’ve gained will stay with me long after today. While this chapter is coming to a close, I’m looking forward to a new opportunity and the chance to take on a different challenge. More to come soon. Thank you, COFI.

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B.C. trade falls back in April amid U.S. tariffs, construction slowdown

By Bryan Yu, chief economist, Central 1
Victoria Times Colonist
June 24, 2026
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada West

A volatile trade picture in B.C. continued into April as goods exports fell four per cent month-to-month (unadjusted for seasonality) to $4.5 billion, while imports fell by a more rapid clip of 14 per cent to $6.2 billion. That said, exports were still up significantly year-over-year by 6.7 per cent, while imports rose a more modest 2.1 per cent. …Current year-over-year growth has been driven primarily by energy products, which rose 9.7 per cent (+$128 million), along with metal ores and non-metallic minerals… In contrast, the beleaguered forestry sector declined nine per cent (-$81 million) to $823 million, although April marked the highest monthly export value for the sector in nine months. Forestry continues to face headwinds from elevated U.S. softwood lumber duties, broader trade measures (including Section 232 tariffs), timber supply constraints and softer demand conditions. Year-to-date … forestry exports fell 24.8 per cent (-$1 billion)… In B.C., building permit activity receded sharply in April…

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Trump refuses to sign bipartisan housing bill into law. What does that mean for homebuyers, renters?

By Alex Veiga
The Associated Press
June 24, 2026
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States

A sprawling legislative package aimed at lowering the cost of housing and spurring more home construction won bipartisan approval from Congress this week, but it’s hit a major roadblock in becoming law: President Trump. The White House supported the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, but on Wednesday Trump canceled the signing ceremony for the bill, saying he would not sign the measure until Congress passes legislation that would require proof of citizenship for all voters. …It’s not a silver bullet for all the factors that contribute to reduced housing affordability, including lack of construction labor, rising insurance costs and years of subdued wage growth relative to sharply rising rents and home prices. …Trump’s decision to not sign the legislation into law Wednesday could end up just temporarily delaying the measure from taking effect.

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Former Graphic Packaging CEO to lead International Paper spinout

Global Cellulose Fibers (GFC)
June 23, 2026
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US East

Mike Doss

MEMPHIS, Tennessee — Global Cellulose Fibers announced it appointed former Graphic Packaging International executive Mike Doss as its CEO. GCF is in its first year under private equity firm American Industrial Partners, which completed its purchase from International Paper in January for $1.5 billion. Doss served as CEO of GPI for a decade before being replaced late last year. The decision drew blowback from some shareholders, but the board defended the move, noting a 50% decline in share price over the previous year. GCF operates seven pulp mills and two converting facilities, with 3,300 employees spanning eight countries. …“This transition is about positioning the company for its next phase,” GCF Board Director Anne McEntee said in the announcement. …The appointment of Mike Doss as CEO of Global Cellulose Fibers comes as a class action lawsuit questions his actions during his final year at the helm of Graphic Packaging International.

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Finance & Economics

US core inflation rate hit 3.4% in May, highest since October 2023

By Jeff Cox
CNBC News
June 25, 2026
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States

The Federal Reserve’s primary price gauge rose at its highest level since 2023, reinforcing the central bank’s recent tough talk on inflation. Excluding food and energy, the personal consumption expenditures price index showed a 3.4% annual rate after rising 0.3% for the month. The annual core reading was the highest since October 2023. For the all-items reading, the PCE index showed inflation running at a seasonally adjusted 4.1% annual rate, the highest since April 2023, according to a Commerce Department report Thursday. …Traders continued to expect the Fed to approve a rate hike in September, though they lowered odds slightly. Energy again provided the largest source of price gains, with related goods and services prices up 4% for the month. Housing cost rose 0.3%, while financial services and insurance jumped 1.2%. …Even with the elevated inflation levels, consumer spending for the month came in stronger than expected. 

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Affordability Concerns Push New Home Sales Lower in May

By Danushka Nanayakkara-Skillington
NAHB Eye on Housing
June 24, 2026
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States

Elevated mortgage rates, rising inflation and economic uncertainty kept many buyers out of the market in May as consumers and builders continue to deal with challenging affordability conditions. While monthly sales activity softened, builders continue to operate in a market characterized by cautious buyers and persistent financing constraints. Sales of newly built single-family homes fell 7.3% month-over-month in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 580,000 units, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau. This represented a 6.8% decline compared to a year earlier. New single-family home inventory totaled 496,000 units in May, up 2.3% from the prior month but down 1.4% from a year earlier. At the current sales pace, the months’ supply of new homes stood at an elevated 10.3 months, above the 9.7 months recorded one year ago.

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US Sawmill Output Slips as Capacity Continues to Decline

By Jesse Wade
NAHB Eye on Housing
June 24, 2026
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States

US sawmill production fell in the first quarter, the second consecutive quarter of lower output. Sawmill output has remained largely flat since 2023, after increasing in the post-pandemic period. The utilization rate for sawmills and wood preservation industries was 71.8% on a four-quarter moving average, up from 71.2% in the fourth quarter of 2025. The sawmill utilization rate, a measure of actual production relative to potential full production moved upward over 2025 as capacity for sawmills fell. Sawmill production, based on a four-quarter moving average, was 0.4% lower in the first quarter of 2026 compared to the fourth quarter but remained higher than a year ago by 1.7%. US sawmills’ full production capacity, an estimation of what could have been produced if running at full production capability, was down 6.0% from a year ago. Lumber prices rose slightly in the first quarter. …Employment in sawmill and wood preservation industries continued to fall, dropping to roughly 82,800 workers in the first quarter. 

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Inflation report could fuel concerns over higher interest rates, even as oil prices fall

By Rob Wile
ABC News
June 25, 2026
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States

A closely watched inflation report is set to reveal how much price growth picked up in May — and whether many American consumers remain mired in an affordability crunch. Wall Street forecasters expected the pace of personal consumption expenditures (PCE) to have quickened compared with April data amid higher oil prices and stronger consumer spending. The monthly PCE report is the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge. New Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh has said the central bank is committed to bringing inflation back to its 2% target — a level it has failed to reach for the past five years. Wall Street now anticipates the Fed will raise its key interest rate at least once by year’s end in a bid to counteract the stronger price growth.

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Wood, Paper & Green Building

Camosun fine furniture grads to showcase salvaged wood chairs in Saanich

By Tony Trozzo
Victoria News
June 24, 2026
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: Canada West

Sixteen Camosun College students are turning reclaimed local wood into a statement on human craftsmanship at a new chair exhibition opening June 24. The showcase, titled “Against the Grain: An Exhibition of Handcrafted Chairs,” kicks off with a free gala event from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. this Wednesday at the Arts Centre at Cedar Hill. Running until July 19, the exhibition serves as the capstone project for students completing the 10-month Fine Furniture and Joinery Trades Foundation Certificate program at Camosun’s Interurban campus. This year’s graduating class designed their unique chairs out of reclaimed Garry Oak, Maple, and Horse Chestnut. The materials were supplied by the Vancouver Island Woodworkers’ Guild wood recovery program, which has supported the Camosun certificate program since its inception.

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JELD-WEN Expands Environmental Product Declarations in North America and Europe

By JELD-WEN Holding Inc.
June 23, 2026
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina — JELD-WEN announced an expansion of its portfolio of Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs). …The expanded portfolio includes newly released, third-party verified EPDs across a broad range of product categories in both North America and Europe, including vinyl and wood windows, interior doors, exterior doorsets, and other building solutions. These disclosures provide standardized, independently verified data on environmental impacts across a product’s full life cycle—from raw material sourcing to manufacturing, use, and end-of-life considerations. …EPDs play a critical role in supporting green building certifications such as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Nachhaltiges Bauen (DGNB), offering architects, builders, and designers a trusted and comparable data source for evaluating materials and selecting lower-impact solutions. Learn more about JELD-WEN’s EPDs in North America here and across Europe here.  

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Mass timber takes center stage at International Wood Fair (IWF) in Atlanta

By Larry Adams
Woodworking Network
June 24, 2026
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US East

ATLANTA — At IWF 2026, mass timber takes center stage with the debut of the Mass Timber & Prefab Showcase at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta. This dedicated exhibit features the latest engineered wood technologies, structural building products, and prefabricated innovations. Ethan Abramson, owner of Ethan Abramson furniture and social media “voice” of the show, says that mass timber technologies are the “wood industry’s newest obsession.”  According to WoodWorks, there are currently 2,746 mass timber projects built, under construction, or in the design phase across the United States in 2026. …At IWF 2026, the mass timber showcase will feature 32 exhibitors, and overall there are more than 60 companies exhibiting who say they offer products or services for the mass timber industry. …The show runs August 25-28, 2026.

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Alliance to End Plastic Waste Report Demonstrates Feasibility of Producing High-Quality Film from Household Flexible Plastic Waste

The Alliance to End Plastic Waste
June 25, 2026
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

SINGAPORE — The Alliance to End Plastic Waste today published The Quest for Quality: Scaling Advanced Mechanical Recycling to Meet Recycled Content Targets for Flexibles, which provides a comprehensive technical and economic assessment of a 50,000-tonne-per-year advanced mechanical recycling plant for flexible plastics. The report demonstrates how high-quality recyclates can be produced from post-consumer household flexible plastics and identifies the conditions needed to scale these solutions commercially. …The Quest for Quality comes at a critical moment as brands, retailers and packaging producers prepare for the EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, which mandates 35% post-consumer recycled content in non-food packaging by 2030. Flexible plastic packaging, which accounts for more than half of the global plastic packaging market, remains one of the most difficult packaging formats to recycle into high-value applications, underscoring the need for scalable recycling pathways. …Find out more at endplasticwaste.org 

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Hello Wood transforms abandoned railway site in Zurich with “indoor-outdoor cultural hub”

By Rheanna Hopkins
Dezeen Magazine
June 24, 2026
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: International

©HelloWood

Architecture studio Hello Wood has completed Remise Rosa, a colourful dining and events complex built from cross-laminated timber on a former railway freight yard in Switzerland. Located in Zurich West, the 2,500-square-metre development was designed and built by Hello Wood to house food stalls, bars, and event spaces, connected by brightly coloured staircases, walkways and bridges. At the heart of the project is a prefabricated structure made from cross-laminated timber (CLT). Hello Wood managed the project from initial design through to construction, with most of building’s parts manufactured off-site and assembled on location. “The CLT structure was assembled using CNC-based prefabrication for precision, minimal waste and fast, clean on-site construction, meaning the entire project was completed in just five months,” Hello Wood lead architect Balázs Szelecsényi said.

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Forestry

Indigenous-led forest rehabilitation work at Palmer Lake site creating opportunities

By Yashvika Grover
The Williams Lake Tribune
June 24, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

The Wood Pellet Association of Canada (WPAC) recently highlighted the Indigenous-led efforts of the Central Chilcotin Rehabilitation Ltd. (CCR) at the Palmer Lake forest fire site. Through an article and video, WPAC described CCR’s work and how it treats fire-affected stands by removing dead and damaged material, reducing fuel loading, and spacing young lodgepole pine to support forest recovery. It is also demonstrated how the CCR uses recovered fibre to be put to productive use rather than leaving it at the site. “It’s such a good news story,” wrote Gord Murray, WPAC executive director. “CCR is turning what might otherwise be seen as waste into jobs, economic development, community pride, and contributions to the biomass industry.”

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Syilx Okanagan file emergency order for Canada to save southern B.C. caribou

By Evert Lindquist
Victoria News
June 24, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada West

The Syilx Okanagan Nation is petitioning the federal government to act swiftly to protect a prized and threatened caribou species that continues to fall off the map near Revelstoke and Nakusp. On May 28, the Nation announced it had filed for an emergency order under Section 80 of Canada’s Species at Risk Act to press Environment and Climate Change Canada to conserve federally threatened southern mountain caribou. The Nation says continued logging of critical old-growth habitat falls out of line with its forestry principles and standards, and jeopardizes the future of the three caribou herds that remain on Syilx territory. The Frisby-Boulder herd west of Revelstoke is already functionally extinct with just eight caribou, while the Central Selkirk herd … sits at around 27 caribou. The Columbia North herd, roughly 185 caribou strong in the Monashee Mountains north of Revelstoke, has the greatest likelihood of survival, though the Nation says long-term forest habitat recovery remains a challenge.

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Ban on open fires in or near forests

Société de protection des forêts contre le feu
June 23, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada East

Quebec – The Ministère de la Sécurité intérieure (MSI) will prohibit open fires in or near certain forests as of June 23 due to current conditions. This decision has been made in collaboration with the Société de protection des forêts contre le feu (SOPFEU). Currently, there are 33 active wildfires across the entire province of Quebec. Since the start of the fire prevention season, 205 fires have affected 193.9 hectares in the intensive protection zone, and 41 fires have burned 4,195.8 hectares of forest in the northern zone. The aim of this ban is to limit the risk of forest fires. Everyone’s cooperation is essential. Consequently, it is forbidden to set or maintain an open fire or to be in the vicinity of such an active fire.

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Polinators, Plants and Forestry in Eastern Canada

By Joe Bowden, Lucas Brehaut and Healy Hamilton
Sustainable Forestry Initiative Blog
June 1, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: Canada, Canada East

NEWFOUNDLAND — Pollinators play a critical role in ecosystems around the world. Pollination is essential for the majority of the fruits and vegetables we depend on for our agricultural systems. But pollination is just as critical for the health of our forest ecosystems. This makes the well-documented downward trend of global insect populations very concerning, including in northern regions, where climate change may be exacerbating the drivers of pollinator decline. …In the boreal forest of the Island of Newfoundland, a diverse group of partners are working to understand the role of managed forests in conserving pollinating bees and other insects. …The team is studying plant and pollinator diversity across forests of differing ages and therefore different stages of forest regeneration. This project aims to advance ecological understanding of how the biodiversity of plants and pollinators change in response to time-since-harvest, while also focusing on plant species in a changing climate.

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New soil sensors launched in Tonto National Forest for flooding, wildfire prevention

By Brian Webb
Fox 10 Phoenix
June 24, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: US West

PHOENIX — New technology is coming to Arizona to predict flooding and prevent wildfires. Moisture sensors are going in the ground to gauge just how dry the land is. Soil that is too dry cannot absorb water, which creates a higher risk for flooding and wildfires. This advancement should help predict wildfires and flooding across Arizona. Salt River Project (SRP) officials say plant moisture, in both dead and alive plants, is one of the most important indicators of wildfire danger. However, taking field samples by hand is tough, so this new technology will do the heavy lifting. SRP crews in the Tonto National Forest are planting tiny pieces of technology in the ground to provide data. …These moisture measurements should provide important clues, like the risk of a wildfire at a given location, how likely it is to spread, how big it might get, and predicting floods.

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High-severity fires burn 30 times more acreage than 40 years ago, researchers find

By Alison Hewitt
University of California, Los Angeles
June 22, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: US West

Forest fires now burn ten times more acreage annually than in 1985, while wildfire severity has gotten even worse. In California, 30 times more acreage burned from high-severity, forest-killing fires, according to new UCLA research. In the 1980s and 1990s, California’s forest fires burned mostly at low or moderate severity, generally benefiting ecosystems. But as fires have grown in size, severe fires causing widespread tree death have overtaken beneficial fire as the most common fire type in California’s forests. Changes are tied to the increasingly warm and arid environment. These aridity-driven changes were also stronger in more densely forested areas, said senior author Park Williams. …The two main causes for the increase in fire severity are fuel density [and] environmental dryness. …The researcher’s conclusions show that the state can make some headway in protecting California’s forests with changes in forest management, such as doing more manual clearing of underbrush and conducting more prescribed burns.

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Michigan State University uses 3D mapping technology and AI simulations for forest management

By Zoe Scarsella
WDET and Wayne State University
June 24, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: US East

David Carter

Researchers are using digital technology to improve forest management strategies. Michigan State University scientists have employed a 3-D mapping technology called LIDAR—which stands for light detection and ranging—to make a digital model of a pine plantation. Dave Carter is an assistant professor of Silviculture at MSU. He says LIDAR can survey areas faster than foresters. “In terms of area, that person may only cover like 1% to 5% of the total stand, whereas a LIDAR measurement would conceivably cover like the whole stand aerially, and maybe accurately count and measure 90% to 95% of the trees in some cases.” After LIDAR scans are uploaded, an AI model simulates different management strategies and finds the most effective ways to remove or apply treatments to trees, or even predict the effects of tree thinning.

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UK government plans new rules to tackle illegal deforestation

By Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
UK Government
June 23, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: International

LONDON — The world’s rainforests are to be better protected from deforestation as the government will confirm during London Climate Action Week, that plans to take forward new rules in Great Britain including using powers in the Environment Act alongside legislation strengthening the UK Timber Regulation. Under the proposals UK businesses who trade in commodities sourced from rainforests… will need to check that their supply chains are not contributing to illegal deforestation. …UK companies have been at the forefront of global efforts to tackle deforestation within their supply chains, but voluntary action alone cannot tackle this global challenge, and several major supermarkets have been calling for stronger regulation. Rainforests and other forests are vital for storing carbon and sustaining biodiversity, yet they are increasingly threatened by deforestation. … Rules ​will be enforced using powers in the Environment Act, alongside ‌legislation ⁠strengthening existing timber rules.

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Health & Safety

Tick reports are surging in Canada. These areas are most affected.

By Daniel Otis
CP24 News
June 24, 2026
Category: Health & Safety
Region: Canada

©Ordre des pharmaciens du Québec

Tick reports are surging across Eastern Canada this year – and especially in Ontario. Driven by climate change, migratory birds, and expanding mice and deer populations, experts expect the troubling trend to continue well into the future, increasing the risk of serious tickborne illnesses like Lyme disease. Data submitted to eTick.ca as of June 23 shows that confirmed tick reports are up 38.5 per cent in Canada so far this year compared to the same period in 2025. Reports of blacklegged and western blacklegged ticks – the two species that carry Lyme disease – are also up by 35.2 per cent. After suffering through a late-stage Lyme disease diagnosis in 2015, Justin Wood founded Geneticks, Canada’s first private tick testing lab. “I expect this upward trend to continue every year in Canada for the foreseeable future,” Wood told CTVNews.ca from Uxbridge, Ont. “Climate change is the driver to this process.” …To help aid national monitoring efforts, and to help you identify potentially dangerous species, Canadians are encouraged to submit tick sightings with photographs to eTick.ca.

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Federal firefighters will be encouraged to wear N95 respirators in major policy reversal

By Evan Bush and Alicia Victoria Lozano
NBC News
June 24, 2026
Category: Health & Safety
Region: United States

©U.S. Forest Service

For the first time, federal firefighters will be encouraged to wear respirators to protect them against smoke-related hazards as they work to put out wildland blazes. The Forest Service announced Wednesday that firefighters were authorized to use N95 respirators on the fire line, a major policy reversal as the agency for decades did not allow such protections, even as studies demonstrated the health harms of wildfire smoke. …N95 respirators are not a perfect solution. They can be hot and uncomfortable and can also increase the effort required to breathe during demanding physical activity. [They] prevent tiny particles from entering the body, but do not protect against carbon monoxide, formaldehyde and other toxic gases that can come from fires. The respirators are not meant to be worn in particularly steep terrain, in fast-changing fire conditions or when a firefighter might make direct contact with flames, according to a Forest Service fact sheet.

US Department of Agriculture: U.S. Forest Service adds long-sought protections to limit health risks for wildland firefighters

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Forest Fires

B.C. firefighters battling 11 new out-of-control wildfires Wednesday

By Tiffany Crawford
Vancouver Sun
June 24, 2026
Category: Forest Fires
Region: Canada West

Cougar Mountain Fire ©BCWS

Firefighters are battling 11 new out-of-control wildfires that broke out Wednesday in B.C., as hot and dry conditions mix with lightning strikes in some areas. Two of the new rapidly spreading wildfires that ignited Wednesday are south of Lillooet, including the Riley Creek wildfire, located about 25 kilometres south of Lillooet. Both are believed to have been ignited by lightning. In Lytton the Saw Creek wildfire forced evacuations and a highway closure on Friday. That fire is considered to be under control as of Tuesday. …Firefighters were also called out to another quick moving wildfire that sparked Wednesday evening between Whistler and Pemberton. Fire officials say the .06-square-kilometre blaze was also ignited by lighting. Overall there are 39 wildfires burning in B.C., including 23 that broke out between Tuesday and Wednesday night, according to the B.C. Wildfire Service.

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McCauley Springs Fire near Jemez Springs prompts evacuation orders, electric shutoff

By Patrick Lohmann
Source New Mexico
June 24, 2026
Category: Forest Fires
Region: US West

©NMFireInfo

The McCauley Springs wildfire, detected early Wednesday morning near Jemez Springs, has a “high potential for spread,” according to Santa Fe National Forest officials, and has prompted evacuation orders and electrical shutoffs as crews race to suppress the blaze. The fire was discovered around 6 a.m. Wednesday south of New Mexico State Road 4 about six miles northeast of Jemez Springs. It grew from 30 acres around 10:30 a.m. to roughly 150 acres by 2 p.m, according to the Santa Fe National Forest. The wildfire prompted immediate evacuation orders in the Jemez Falls Campground, and nearby communities of Sierra los Pinos and Vallecitos. The Jemez Electric Co-op shut off power to customers east of Thompson’s Ridge. Forest Service officials said the Santa Fe Interagency Hotshot Crew has responded, along with two helicopters, and that another crew tackling the 147-acre Rio Fire nearby in the Española area has been reassigned to McCauley Springs Fire. 

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Wind-whipped Utah wildfire grows to nearly 60,000 acres, prompts evacuations

By Bill Hutchinson
ABC News
June 24, 2026
Category: Forest Fires
Region: US West

©U.S. Forest Service

A wildfire burning in Utah has grown to nearly 60,000 acres, prompting mandatory evacuations of homes and campgrounds and completely closing a highway in the mountainous area. Fueled by drought conditions and blustery winds, the Cottonwood Fire in Beaver County has almost doubled in size in the past 24 hours. The Cottonwood Fire in Beaver County started Monday afternoon and spread rapidly, fanned by wind gusts of up to 50 mph, according to Utah Fire Info. As of Wednesday afternoon, the blaze had grown to 59,613 acres “due to high temperatures, gusty winds, and extremely dry fuels,” the U.S. Forest Service said in a statement early Wednesday. The fire remains 0% contained. …Evacuation orders remained in effect on Wednesday morning. …The Cottonwood Fire is one of 349 wildfires currently burning across Utah, consuming more than 200 square miles, according to Utah Fire Info.

Additional coverage in the Utah News Dispatch, by Annie Knox: Gov. Spencer Cox says ‘there’s no end in sight’ to wildfire that could be Utah’s most destructive ever

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