Wildfires

Question 1

What different types of wildfires are there?

Answer 1

Ladder effect
Crown fire
Surface fire
Ground fire

Question 2

What is the ladder effect?

Answer 2

When fires spread from the forest floor to the canopy.

Question 3

What is a crown fire?

Answer 3

Fire that has ascended from the floor to the canopy and is spreading through the canopy

Question 4

What is a surface fire?

Answer 4

Fire that burns along the surface w/o spreading higher. Flames less than 1 metre

Question 5

What is a ground fire?

Answer 5

Burns beneath the ground in layers of organic peat. Slow burning smouldering fire

Question 6

What conditions affect wildfires?

Answer 6

Vegetation type - dry, thick undergrowth, closely spaced trees, contains oil, sheds bark

Ignition sources - human/ natural

Type of soil - dry or saturated, peat, can’t see where the fire is spreading

Climate and recent weather - rainfall, wind speed and direction

Topography - valleys and slopes

Beh. of fire - speed, direction of movement, throwing debris

Question 7

What are the human causes of wildfires?

Answer 7

• Campfires
• Matches
• Cigarettes
• Arson
• Sparks from railroad
• Burning rubbish and debris
• Farmers burning fields
• Sparks from equipment
• Power line arcs
• Fireworks

Question 8

What are the natural causes of wildfires?

Answer 8

• Lightning
• Heat from the sun - spontaneous combustion
• Volcanoes
• Coal seam fires
• Meteors

Question 9

What are the social impacts of wildfires?

Answer 9

• Injuries and deaths
• Homes and buildings destroyed - ppl left homeless
• Power lines and reservoirs destroyed - no electricity or clean water
• Health problems - smoke inhalation

Question 10

What are the economic impacts of wildfires?

Answer 10

• Destroys businesses, loss of jobs and income
• Insurance premiums increase
• Huge cost of fighting wildfires
• Discourages tourists

Question 11

What are the political impacts of wildfires?

Answer 11

• Governments face criticism when the impacts when the impact is severe
• May have to change forest management practice to reduce the risks

Question 12

What are the environmental impacts of wildfires?

Answer 12

• Habitats destroyed, animals may not return and ecosystem changes
• Soils damaged as fire removes the nutrients
• Ecosystems rely of fire to remove dead vegetation
• Some plants release seeds when there is a wildfire so the fire can germinate them

Question 13

What responses are there to wildfires?

Answer 13

Mitigation strategies

Short term - putting out fire, evacuation, diverting fire away from settlements etc.

Long term - prevention (education on risks) preparedness (households have emergency plan) adaptation (non-flammable building materials)

Question 14

What are the positives of wildfires?

Answer 14

They clear dead vegetation and make sure forests don’t get too thick.
An issue w/ forest management and prevention of wildfires is that forests now have v. dense vegetation so when there are forest fires they have lots of fuel and are v. severe

Question 15

When was the Alberta wildfire?

Answer 15

Began 1st May 2016. Lasted 2 months. Under control by July 5th.

Question 16

What was the spatial and temporal setting of the Alberta wildfire?

Answer 16

Spread from 1,200 hectares to 220,000 hectares in a few days.
Windy conditions - spread quickly
Smoldering didn’t stop creating negative impacts for the environment and people until spring 2017

Question 17

What were the perceptions of the Alberta wildfire?

Answer 17

Wildfires regular in Fort McMurry so ppl thought they protected and safe. Not prepared for that scale of wildfire.

Afterwards residents were terrified of it happening again. Authorities warned residents before doing controlled burning of roadsides to not trigger ppl.

Alberta gov. criticised for cutting $15 million from provinces wildfire suppression budget.

Some ppl saw their homes burn down via tech - cameras