The 2023 wildfires devastated land across Canada. According to Natural Resource Canada, around 6, 132 fires broke out, burning 16.5 million hectares of land. They conducted a study focused on Quebec and found more land was burned in June than in the last 25 years combined. Experts say that Indigenous peoples are disproportionally affected by wildfires and the smoke that comes with them. The Anishinaabe de Lac Simon is one of the communities in the thick of the fires.

Follow Rebecca to the community of Lac Simon to learn about the summer of fire and smoke.