🚧 If a fire blocks the highway, do not drive through smoke and flame

Canada’s federal wildfire preparedness page is clear: do not attempt to drive through a wildfire. If you find yourself on a highway with active fire...

Canada’s federal wildfire preparedness page is clear: do not attempt to drive through a wildfire. If you find yourself on a highway with active fire ahead, turn around and use an alternate route, even if it is much longer. Visibility inside heavy smoke can drop to nothing in seconds; trees can fall across the road; and embers and burning debris can ignite vegetation alongside the road or on your vehicle. Follow the directions of any police officer, RCMP, conservation officer, sheriff or wildfire crew you encounter, even if they contradict your GPS. If you are caught with no exit, find the nearest cleared area — a paved parking lot, a gravel pit, a wide cleared shoulder or a body of water — and shelter there with windows up and air on recirculate. Stay low in the vehicle if radiant heat becomes intense. Call 9-1-1 with your location if you can. Most car fires from wildfire exposure happen because the vehicle is parked next to dry grass or among trees; bare ground is far safer than the median or treed shoulder.

Source: Canada — Wildfires Get Prepared

Last reviewed 2026-05-02.

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