Thousands of provincial firefighters are battling a devastating start to wildfire season, with hundreds of Canadian soldiers and foreign firefighters scrambling to reinforce stretched units in Nova Scotia, Alberta and Quebec, where thousands have been forced from their homes. …So far this season, there have been no reported deaths, but 10 times the average amount of terrain has been scorched, compared with the past decade, which has renewed calls for a federal solution to supplement provincial and international firefighting resources. …To date, 566 firefighters have travelled between provinces this year to help other jurisdictions, and another 443 firefighters and other trained experts have come to Canada from Australia, New Zealand and the United States, with waterbombers and helicopters from Montana deployed in Nova Scotia Sunday. There are no estimates for how much federal and provincial firefighting efforts have cost so far this season. [to access the full story a Globe and Mail subscription is required]