Alberta Wildfire Flashcards
Why did the Alberta wildfire occur?
May 2016 was warm and dry month in Central Canada
Natural El Nino cycle led to a dry fall and winter season along with a warm spring.
This created perfect conditions for numerous wildfires
Largest wildfire nicknamed ‘The Beast’
Significant damage induced to physical landscapes, ecosystems and livelihoods from 4th May to 1st of June
Local environmental impacts
Over 580,000ha of land burned, severely damaging it in the short and medium term
Ash washed into rivers after rain which led to more water pollution and contamination of aquatic life
Local economic impacts
⅓ of Shell’s 25,000 Oil Sands workers were evacuated and operations shut down. Resulted CA$1 billion impacts
Local social impacts
88,000 residents of Fort McMurray and surroundings were rapidly evacuated
2400 buildings destroyed
Wide scale environmental impacts
Several million tonnes of CO2 and other toxins released into the atmosphere
Incident acted as a catalyst of the climate change debate and its role in wildfires
Wide scale economic impacts
An impact analysis projected the wildfire costed CA$9 billion directly and indirectly
Infrastructure such as railways, roads and local airports were destroyed
Wide scale social impacts
Infrastructure such as railways, roads and local airports were destroyed - this made evacuation and rescue more challenging
Short term responses
Mass evacuation program and Alberta-wide state of emergency announced
Canadian armed forces support with helicopters, water bombers and firefighters brought in, as well as offers of support form USA, australia, and russia
Alberta government set up online registry for temporary housing
Long term responses
Trudeau government offered residents up to CA$1250 per adult as long term compensation
In June, residents were gradually phased back into Fort McMurray, and an environmental reconstruction program
June 2016 ‘Fire Aid’ benefit concert in Edmonton
