'Unprecedented' Canadian wildfires impact Wisconsin, 19M+ acres burned

MILWAUKEE - As smoke from Canadian wildfires prompted air quality problems in southeast Wisconsin Tuesday, June 27, closing parks and pools and canceling baseball games, a Canadian official said though they're doing all they can to fight these fires, we might be in for a long summer.

When it's game day at Elmbrook Little League, Noah Jajtner and his grandpa arrive early for extra batting practice. But Tuesday, his eye wasn't on the ball but on the skies around him.

"This is the worst I've ever seen because usually, I could see all the way out there to a Toyota dealership," said Jajtner. "I can't even see that, and it's like, blinding to look at the highway."

Canadian wildfire smoke in Brookfield

The league canceled all Tuesday night games as health officials warned of dangerous air quality levels, which were, at one point, the worst in the nation because of the smoke from the nearly 500 fires burning across Canada.

"We have surpassed all our records so far for the number of hectares burned, and it is definitely unprecedented," said Jennifer Kamau with the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center (CIFFC).

Kamau said Tuesday the situation is so dire, the country called in international help from the U.S. and even Europe.

 A burnt landscape caused by wildfires is pictured near Entrance, Wild Hay area, Alberta, Canada on May 10, 2023. (Photo by Megan ALBU / AFP) (Photo by MEGAN ALBU/AFP via Getty Images)

"Some communities have faced really devastating losses, and of course, you know, the people on the ground are doing all that they can to combat the fires," she said.

As of Tuesday, CIFFC's data showed just over half of the active fires are burning "out of control."

"It seems like we are in it for the long haul, if I can put it that way," said Kamau.

A burnt landscape caused by wildfires is pictured near Entrance, Wild Hay area, Alberta, Canada on May 10, 2023. (Photo by Megan ALBU / AFP) (Photo by MEGAN ALBU/AFP via Getty Images)

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In Brookfield, Jajtner said the safe decision was the right one.

"Whatever's healthiest works," he said. "We'll make the game up or figure something out."

Noah Jajtner 

You'll notice that Canadian officials use "hectares" for measurement. One hectare is almost two and a half acres. So far, a little more than 19 million acres have burned in Canada just in 2023. For context, that's a little more than half of the entire state of Wisconsin.

Flight for Life was unable to respond to a crash in Menomonee Falls Tuesday due to the wildfire smoke. A spokesman said: "There are (visibility) minimums set by the FAA. The visibility was not within those limits."