The Alberta Wildfire, 2016

'The Beast'
Canada, in a forest to the southwest of Fort McMurray
CAUSE
1. Unknown
2. Initially under control, but a shift in wind direction intensified fire
3. 'Spotting' - wind carried burning embers to ignite fires ahead of fire front - harder to mitigate.
  1. Jumped a one kilmetre river in places
4. Favourable environmental conditions
  1. Lack of winter snowfall and an early snow melt
  2. Warmer than average temperatures dried out ground
  3. Temperatures soared late April, low humidity, tinder dry vegetation
  4. Due to El Nino
    1. Earlier springs in high latitudes could extend fire season
5. What made it worse once the fire started?
  1. Temperatures exceeded 30 degrees Celsius, winds increased to supply oxygen
  2. Fire created weather patterns - lightning led to more ignition
    1. Positive Feedback
IMPACTS
1. SOCIAL
  1. SHORT TERM
    1. 90,000 forced to evacuate
    2. 2400 homes and buildings burned down
    3. Disrupted power supplies
  2. LONG TERM
    1. Movement in area restricted
    2. Jobs/livelihoods affected
    3. Anxiety over future
    4. Contaminated water supplies
2. Environmental
  1. SHORT TERM
    1. Scorched soil and tree roots
      1. Affected boreal forest ecosystem
    2. Dry peaty soils could reignite any time until rainfall
    3. Burned around 600,000 ha of land - size of Norfolk
    4. Several millions of tonnes of CO2 released
  2. LONG TERM
    1. Huge quantities of waste - e.g rotting food from freezers, and toxic waste from fire - had to be disposed of
    2. Ash washed into water course after rain - led to water pollution and contamination of aquatic wildlife
    3. Toxins - mercury, lead, organic compounds - released from burning trees and debris - created air pollution as far as USA and Gulf Coast
3. Economic
  1. SHORT TERM
    1. A third of 25,000 workers in the nearby oil sands industry evacuated from work camps.
      1. Production halted in north of Fort McMurray
      2. Shell Canada temporarily shut down Albian Sands mining operation.
    2. Airport transport affected
  2. LONG TERM
    1. Cost Shell Canada industry CAN$1 billion
    2. Initial insurance estimates - CAN$9 billion damage
    3. Possibly most costly Canadian disaster
4. POLITICAL
  1. Fuelled debate over impacts of climate change and increased vulnerability in future
  2. Gov. officials oversaw evac. programmes and liased with emergency services
  3. Coordination of reconstruction programmes for infrastructure and services
  4. Alberta gov. oversaw re entry of area
RESPONSES
1. SHORT TERM
  1. 15 miles 'no go zone' south of Fort McMurray
  2. Careful monitoring of fire using ground and satellite data
  3. Meteorological info used to forecast likely direction of fire's track
  4. Emergency services mobilised and warnings issued, 90,000 evacuated
    1. Aircraft evacuated some oil sands workers
    2. Firefighters brought in from neighbouring states
  5. 90% infrastructure saved
  6. State of emergency declared by Alberta gov. Triggered support from Canadian army
    1. 15 helicopters, 14 air tankers, air tractors - carried 800 to 1750 gallons of lake water
  7. 9 May - Red Cross received donations over CAN$50 million
2. LONG TERM
  1. Federal gov. matched Red Cross donations
  2. Gov. of Alberta provided CAN$1250 per adult and $500 per dependant to help evacuees cover living expenses
  3. Nearby Edmonton created an online registry to help evacuees find accomodation.
  4. June - evacuees could return
  5. End of June - benefit concert 'Fire Aid' to raise money

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The Alberta Wildfire, 2016

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