Alberta wildfire case study PDF

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Alberta wildfire case study 1.Describe the spatial and temporal setting of the event The Alberta wildfire started on the first of May 2016 and began at the southwest of Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. The wildfire spread across northern Alberta and into Saskatchewan and burnt 589,552 hectares (1,456,810 acres) in total. Fort McMurray is a population centre, located in northeast Alberta, in the middle of the Athabasca oil sands, surrounded by boreal forest. In total the wildfire burned 589,552 hectares (1,456,810 acres). The fire spread 589,552 hectares (1,456,810 acres), before it was declared to be under control on July 5, 2016. It continued to smoulder, and was fully extinguished on August 2, 2017. The map here shows how much the wildfire burnt in comparison to a London map, covering all of central London, and most of outer London, which shows how severe and strong the fire was to burn that much land. Comparing the Fort McMurray fire to another Canadian fire; In the past, the Chinchaga fire, also known as the Wisp fire, was a forest fire that burned in northern British Columbia and Alberta in the summer and early autumn of 1950. With a final size of between 3,500,000 acres and 4,200,000 acres, it is the single largest recorded fire in North American history. The fire was allowed to burn freely, a result of local forest management policy and the lack of settlements in the region. The Chinchaga fire produced large amounts of smoke, creating the "1950 Great Smoke Pall", observed across eastern North America and Europe. Comparing the Alberta wildfire to this one it does not seem has large as this burnt about 3 times more acres and the smoke travelled to Europe, however this wildfire was burnt freely which would allow it to burn over a wider area. 2.Describe and explain the association of the event to weather and climate conditions. El Niño and ongoing climate change have both contributed to the devastating Alberta by has causing much drier conditions than normal, leading to a massive increase in the number of fires. The El Nino weather system has led to drier than normal conditions in Alberta and neighbouring Saskatchewan. Unseasonably high temperatures and strong winds have combined with those conditions to create a strong fire. The strong winds fans the flame to drive the flame frontward and much faster so that it prevents a

convection column from forming. Weather conditions in Western Canada were perfect for wildfires as the warm, dry winter has led to dead, dry leaves and wood ready to light up. There has been low humidity and lack of green vegetation combined with windy conditions contributing to the incredibly intense fire in the northern Alberta city. The conditions that was needed to start of this fire were typical wildfire conditions: a

seemingly endless supply of dry fuel on the forest floor and in the canopy, and intense heat. Alberta has mature conifer forest and has boreal forests at their driest in May, these fuels have the greatest crown fuel load and can support active crown fire. Crown fires are very hazardous as they burn through the top layer of foliage which after it combusts, it generates temperatures of 1100 Celcius. Crown fires affect the whole forest and are the most intense and difficult to contain. 3. Assess the perception of the event, and the factors affecting those perceptions at a range of scales – eg, magnitude, frequency, population characteristics etc. Following the start of the wildfire at Fort McMurray, other towns also began to prepare for evacuation after the approximate 88,000 residents of Fort McMurray that had been evacuated out. Alberta and Canada have frequent wildfires, so residents were aware of what they are and the damage it can do. This means that there is people know about the risk of wildfires, so it won’t come to shock when they are told to evacuate or told about the wildfire, so they can prepare themselves much more better, reducing the number of people affected. Canada are very prone to wildfires because of the boreal landscape which has a lot of fuel, producing a lot more severe wildfires. However, wildfires can spread unpredictably, as the crown of fires can spread over huge distances which can’t be tracked, making it hard to predict where the fire will spread to next, so evacuation actually occurred in areas after the wildfire hit them. 4. Explain the causes of the event A 12-month long drought in the northern part of Alberta has dried out the brush that underlies the forest creating fuel that is highly inflammable and a thick layer that may be extinguished on the surface. And the winter of 2015-16 has seen relatively little snow that, so instead of melting and keeping the ground surface moist, it has left the ground even more dry than normal. Very high temperatures into the mid to upper 20's Celsius degrees, had dried the vegetation further of any remaining surface moisture. Strong south-easterly winds blew from the interior of the continent drying material further, providing oxygen once a fire ignites and blowing cinders downwind to create fire-spread over a wide area. During the start of the fire, a hot, dry air mass was in place over Northern Alberta, which brought recordsetting temperatures to Fort McMurray. On May 3, the temperature reached 32.8 °C, with relative humidity as low as 12%. The situation intensified on May 4 when temperatures reached 31.9 °C and winds speed to 72 km/h. This significantly contributed to the fire's rapid growth. The winter preceding the fires was drier than usual, leaving a paltry snowpack, which melted quickly. Combined with the high temperatures, this created a "perfect storm" of conditions for an explosive wildfire. The El Niño and climate change has contributed to a drier winter and spring, making the conditions needed for a wildfire more serious. As a result of the strong winds, it fans the flame to drive the flame frontward and much faster so that it prevents a convection column from forming. Alberta has a boreal forest, which carries a lot of fuel, and in addition there was a lot of dry fuel on the forest floor. These fuels have the greatest crown fuel load and can support active crown fire. Crown fires can be extremely hazardous as they burn through the top layer of the canopy. Crown fires affect the whole forest and are the most intense and difficult to contain. El Niño has been quite responsible for the extent of how severe the wildfire was. As a result of the El Niño conditions, there was drier climate, drier soil as there was not enough snow to melt, to make the soil moist, and the higher temperatures which provides a lot of energy. Because of the lack of green vegetation and dry soil, there was a greater supply of dry fuel to cause the wildfire to be much greater. Without the El Niño, there may have been a much cooler season, with snow in the winter to then melt in spring to create a moist soil, preventing dry fuel, and more cooler temperatures, which could have lessened the effects of the

wildfire from the initial spark. The fire also increased in intensity as when it was already burning through Fort McMurray, the weather became significantly worse as the temperatures went upwards of 28C and winds gusting up to 25mph (40kmh). 5. Explain and assess the impacts of the event – includes generic example!

The wildfire destroyed approximately 2,400 homes and buildings. Another 2,000 residents in three communities were displaced after their homes were declared unsafe for reoccupation due to contamination. Beacon hill lost 476 residential homes, waterways lost 238, Absand lost 1168 and Anzac lost 12, with many more areas loosing residential homes. This is economically stressful to rebuild buildings, with the large amount of residential homes being lost, which would be costly to the government or council and will destroy the sense of place as being homely for the residents as it will be all new. The sense of place of certain areas in general may be destroyed as buildings and landscapes will be destroyed by the fire, making it less traditional and comfortable for the people, especially when it shows evidence of the hazard that forced many to evacuate. After sweeping through Fort McMurray, the wildfire destroyed approximately 2,400 homes and buildings. Another 2,000 residents in three communities were displaced after their homes were declared unsafe for reoccupation due to contamination The Fort McMurray wildfire has very severe impacts compared to other natural disasters in Canada, as it has been the costliest for insurance providers, costing $3.7 billion which is $2.5 million more than the second most expensive, the Quebec ice storm

At a rough estimate, the fire will have resulted in a few million tonnes of CO2 emitted. CO2 emissions from the fire won’t be significant on a global scale but is of still a large local environmental impact. The fire would have mobilised contaminants, with mercury and other heavy metal, deposited on trees and soils, making the smoke potentially more toxic than a normal forest fire. Even worse were the toxins released by burning the 2,400 buildings and their contents. There’s a lot of objects like housing shingles, cars, couches and so on that produce a wide range of toxins including mercury, lead and organic compounds. The smoke from the fires has travelled across the US to the Gulf coast, 3,400 km away. Fires are a known hazard mainly because small particles can damage lungs. This is a social and possibly an economic impact if many have been affected badly by the toxins, expensive healthcare will be needed to be provided, which will cause a lot of stress on the people when they are also dealing with their lost homes and buildings. A boil-water advisory or boil-water order is a public health advisory or directive given by government or health authorities to consumers when a community's drinking water is, or could be, contaminated by pathogens. This means that water have been contaminated, which can be at risk to those who don’t boil the water, affecting their health. About 47 million barrels of oil production worth $1.4 billion was also lost. On May 7, Syncrude shut down all site and processing operations, removing 4,800 employees from the area. A quarter of Canada's oil production, equal to approximately one million barrels of oil a day, was halted as a result of the fire. The lost output is estimated to cost the Albertan economy $70 million per day, and was a contributing factor to rises in global oil prices. The scaled back operations, caused many gas stations to run out of gas throughout Western Canada. This is important economically and socially. It has impacted in an economical way, as the Oil produced in Alberta was one of their main commodities, employing a large population and contributing a lot of income into the area, however now that 47 million barrels have been lost and removing employees from the area, Alberta will lose out on a high proportion of inflow money to support the economy and many have lost their jobs, meaning their personal income would have been on halt for a while, causing stress for people socially and financially. The $70 million per day that has been lost could have been used to help to re build and re construct the areas devastated by the wildfire or help the locals. It has also socially impacted on a wider scale affecting other areas of Canada as gas stations are running out of oil, making the prices much more expensive for customers and travelling much more difficult. The neighbourhoods of Waterways, Abasand, and Beacon Hill after being severely burned were then declared unsafe for reoccupation, due to contamination from arsenic and heavy metals. 2,000 residents in these neighbourhoods were only allowed supervised visits to their homes, and relied on workers from a not-for-profit organization made up of former or current Canadian and U.S. Armed Forces members to sift through leftover items. These neighbourhoods also do not have water service due to damages to the water system. This is socially impacting the residents of these areas, as it causes much stress and strain on them as they have permanently lost their homes and may have to find some where knew, which is upsetting to leave their old home but to find a new home when many have them may have been affected by losing out on income from the oilsands, would cause a lot of stress. One of the biggest effects would be the loss of homes and the areas that have been destroyed. Firstly, because it has a social impact on the people as their homes may be damaged or completely loss, which may be very personal to them and have sentimental items in the. Rebuilding of houses won’t have the sentimental value as their previous homes to many. Secondly, the cost of repairing, cleaning and rebuilding may be very significant, making the council or government expenditure much more restrained. Thirdly, the burning of areas can be environmentally negative, as carbon will be released into the atmosphere, and many animals would have been injured and habitats would have been destroyed. The smoke and toxins can be damaging to the lungs which could deteriorate people’s health, this is why peoples some areas like Fort McMurray and Beacon Hills, had to wait longer to go back and visit home as the atmosphere was not safe enough for them. 6.Explain, assess and justify the response to the event including the factors affecting this response....