Alberta, Canada Wildfire 1st May 2016 Flashcards
What are the social primary effects?
1)2400 buildings burnt down (1600 homes)
2) 15% of all structures in town burnt down
3) electricity cut off for 2 weeks
What were the economic primary effects?
1)9 major oil companies had to close (including syncrude and suncor)
2)600 oil work camp units destroyed
3)damaged cost of $9billion across fort mcmurray
What were the environmental primary effects?
1)230,000 hectares burnt in 2 days
2)released millions of tonnes of CO2
3)mobilised contaminants like mercury, lead and organic compounds from cars and houses made the smoke more toxic
4)Smoke travelled across the gulf coast, 3400km away
What were the social secondary effects?
Firefighters used untreated water to fight the fire, which contaminated water supply.
What were the economic secondary effects?
1/3 of all Canada’s oil output lost.
What were the environmental secondary effects?
1)There was a toxic surge into the Athabasca river after the first rainfall since the start of the fire
2)Huge amounts of toxic ash and waste to dispose of
What were the short-term responses?
1)90,000 people evacuated from port mcmurray
2)Aircraft used to evacuate oil sand’s workers
3)Alberta government declared a state of emergency
4)neighbouring states provided helicopters, water and firefighters
5)Alberta government provided $1250 per adult and $500 per dependent to cover living expenses
6)At Edmonton, an online registry was created to help evacuees find accommodation
7)landlords offered reduced rates for evacuees
8)Firemen used untreated water to combat the fire
What were the long-term responses?
1) the Red Cross donated $50 million
2)The review of responses was released 13 months after the fire
3)In June, residents were allowed back in to clear and rebuild
4)At the end of June, a concert was held in Edmonton to raise money for fire Aid
Give some background of the fire?
On May 1st, 2016 at 9:57pm a wildfire began to sweep the centennial trailer park and the neighbourhoods of prairie creek and Gregorian at the southwest of fort mcmurray, Alberta, Canada.
What happened on the 3rd of May?
It was described as the largest wildfire event in Alberta history.
How long did the fire last for?
The wildfire lasted for two months in fort mcmurray, Alberta, Canada and it started to be under control by July 5th, 2016.
Explain the population density of Alberta?
The land area of Alberta is 640,000 square kilometres with a population density of 5.7 people per square kilometre.
describe the landscape of Alberta?
1)Fort mcmurray is a beautiful urban area which covers 60km2 in the northeast of Alberta, Canada.
2)The city is surrounded by boreal forest and 2 main rivers: Athabasca river and clear water river.
3)There are also several peat bogs within the forest.
What’s the gradient of the land in Alberta?
The whole boreal forest is located in a flat plain with a few hills. the Rocky Mountains are on the west side of this plain.
Where did the fire travel?
The forest fire was started at the southwest of the urban service, and expanded around especially the southeast side.
What are the climate patterns in Alberta?
Alberta has 4 seasons but the summers are very hot, daytime highs are normally 20C-25C and can get up to 30s but the winter is very cold, in Jan and Feb daytime temperatures range from -5 to -15. They can drop as low as -40 for short periods of time. Alberta has 312 sunny days annually.
What were the long term physical causes of the fire?
1)There was a 12 month long drought in the northern part of the state that dried out the bush that underlies the forest creating brush fuel that is highly flammable and a thick layer that may be extinguished on the surface but keep smouldering beneath.
2)The winter of 2015-16 saw relatively little snow that, normally at this time of year, would melt and keep the ground surface moist.
What were the short-term physical causes of the fire?
1)Very high temperatures into the mid to upper 20s in recent days has dried vegetation further of any remaining surface moisture.
2)Strong south easterly winds were blowing from the interior of the continent drying material further, This provided oxygen once the fire had ignited and blew cinders downwind to create fire spread over a wide area.
What were the human causes of the fire?
1)The Canadian police know the wildfire didn’t start naturally but they do not know how it was caused or whether it was started on purpose or by accident.
What mitigation strategies were put in place?
1)Keep people from living in high risk areas.
2)Improve building by adding fire resistant roofs and sprinkling systems.
3)The 5 year mitigation strategy includes a more robust fire prevention programme.
4)They should do more tree and bush clearing and residents should remove any combustible material within 1.5 metres of their homes.
5)They’ve already cleared 1300 hectares and plan to do another 867 hectares.
What are Alberta doing to become more prepared?
1)They are improving peoples education and awareness on how wildfires can start and how we prevent them.
2)They are making a more efficient evacuation plan.
