After repeated blasts of smoke last summer and one of the driest winters on record, Chicago enters the 2024 wildfire season with trepidation

After repeated blasts of thick and smelly wildfire smoke last summer and one of the warmest and driest winters on record, Chicagoans can be forgiven for anticipating the 2024 wildfire season with a sense of dread.

In fact, governments in both the United States and Canada say they’re correct to feel this way.

“The conditions are ripe for another bad fire season,” said John Mooney, air quality director for the Environmental Protection Agency’s regional office in Chicago.

“The snowpack was down.