Labrador Accounts for Nearly All of Province’s 96,000 Hectares Burned in 2026 Wildfire Season

Newfoundland and Labrador recorded 133 wildfires in 2026, burning approximately 96,000 hectares of land, with nearly all the damage occurring in Labrador.

According to the provincial government, 96,269.1 hectares burned in Labrador, compared with 45.9 hectares in eastern Newfoundland and 13.4 hectares in western Newfoundland.

The province recorded 57 wildfires in Labrador, 56 in eastern Newfoundland and 21 in western Newfoundland.

The total area burned was significantly higher than in 2025, when 244 wildfires burned more than 18,500 hectares across the province.

Human activity caused 81 confirmed wildfires in 2026, down from 230 the previous year. Lightning was the leading identified cause of wildfires for the first time in recent years, with 50 confirmed lightning-caused fires, compared with 13 in 2025.