Wildfire Event: Alberta Flashcards
Where is Alberta
A province in Canada
What had the weather been like before the wildfire
The area had experienced at 12 month long drought before the fire. Only 1.6 inches of rain had fallen by may (60% of the normal amount)
Tell me the background of the wildfires
Unusually hot air had brought temperatures as high as 32 degrees c to parts of Alberta.
Strong winds (45 mph) also helped dry the ground and then fan the flames.
When did the first fire start
Fires first started in the area on 1st May but didn’t reach fort McMurray until the 3rd, 2016.
Multiple fires started due to the wind dispersing embers. This only added to the uncontrolled nature of the fire.
What was the cause of Alberta wildfire
Exact cause for the start is unknown though widely thought to be human induced.
How much monetary damage was done to fort mcmurray
$9 billion
How many homes and buildings burnt down
2400
Tell me about the effect of water pollution
High levels of water pollution followed the first heavy rain as ash and pollutant were washed into the river course.
How much forest was destroyed
590,000 Ha
What was ecological damage like
It was huge with peat burnt, species lost and a resetting of the ecosystem. It will take a long time to recover and new species may replace former ones.
Several million tonnes of co2 were released by the fire.
Tell me about infrastructure loss
Water lines were lost and electricity supplies cut off to some areas.
How many neighbourhoods were totally destroyed
3 neighbourhoods were totally destroyed and deemed unfit for future habitation due to arsenic contamination.
How did the oil industry suffer
1 million barrels of oil per day were not produced during the wildfire (25% of Canada’s production). This cost Alberta $70 million per day and led to to a global rise in oil prices.
In the end Alberta wildfire became the costliest disaster in the history of Canada.
What were the responses
90,000 residents were evacuated from fort mcmurray
Oil operations were shut down and over 8000 oil industry workers evacuated. The sites were subsequently used to house some evacuees
Satellite and surface readings were used to try and predict the fire route and enable fire fighters to extinguish the blaze.
Online register if available accommodation was opened to help evacuees find housing
Government gave $500-$1250 per dependant to families made homeless.
1,110 personnel, 145 helicopters, 138 pieces of heavy equipment and 22 air tankers were employed to fight the fire
Red Cross gave $319 million to help those affected
Assessment of forest has led to recommendation to remove 800 ha as a fire precaution.
