Short and long-term responses; risk management designed to reduce the impacts of the hazard through preparedness, mitigation, prevention and adaptation.
Impact and human responses as evidenced by a recent wild fire event.
Wildfires are unwanted wild land fires. They are known as bushfires in Australia and brushfires in America. They tend to occur most frequently in hot areas where there is extended periods of drought. Strong winds cause fires to spread more quickly. Causes of wildfires There are natural and human causes of wildfires but 90% of wildfires are caused by humans. Natural causes
Lightning is the biggest natural cause of wildfires.
Spontaneous heating is where leaves and branches on the ground are heated to the point at which it catches fire without a spark.
Volcanic eruptions produce hot lava and ash which can ignite a fire. Steep slopes can then lead to the fire spreading quickly.
Human causes
Arson where fires are started deliberately.
Children playing with matches
Electricity pylons falling down in high winds.
BBQ's and campfires that have not been extinguished properly
Broken bottles acting as a magnifying glass
Sparks from train wheels and machinery
Discarded cigarettes
Slash and burn farming techniques
Effects of wildfires Primary
Loss of life and injury to people and animals
Destruction of property and possessions (this is an increasing problem as more people live in the rural urban fringe)
Loss of vegetation and crops
Smoke
Secondary
Homelessness
Health problems from the inhalation of smoke
Loss of animal habitats
Increased soil erosion as vegetation is no longer there to bind the soil together
Insurance premiums rise
Loss of jobs and income for agricultural workers who lose crops or livestock
Access to recreational areas is restricted
Preventing Wildfires
Remove dead leaves and branches in areas prone to wildfires.
Organise controlled burning to remove fuel.
Educate the public to reduce the human causes of wildfires.
Stopping wildfires once they have started
Firefighters spray the fire with water and foam
Organise air drops of water and fire retardant chemicals from planes to put out fires in inaccessible areas
Spray ahead of wildfires to prevent the fire spreading
Create fire breaks by removing a line of vegetation or digging a trench to stop the fire spreading.
Back burning is where areas ahead of the fire and deliberately burnt in a controlled way to remove the fires fuel supply
Case study: Alberta Wildfire May 2016
The Canadian state of Alberta in the north-west of the country, suffered a series of separate fires in May 2016 leading to the destruction of 1,600 homes and the evacuation of an entire city of 88,000 people: Fort McMurray. It is one of Canada's costliest natural disaster as the insurance bill rose above half a billion pounds (£).
Causes The physical causes are: Medium term: There was a 12-month long drought in the northern part of the state that dried out the brush that underlies the forest creating brush fuel that is highly inflammable and a thick layer that may be extinguished on the surface but keep smouldering beneath. The winter of 2015-16 has seen relatively little snow that, normally at that time of the year, would be melting and keeping the ground surface moist. Short term: There was very high temperatures into the mid to upper 20's C in recent days before the fire had dried the vegetation further of any remaining surface moisture. Strong south-easterly winds were blowing from the interior of the continent drying material further, providing oxygen once a fire ignites and blowing cinders downwind to create fire-spread over a wide area. The human causes are: No-one is sure how this fire first ignited. Human actions may deliberately (arson) or accidentally (camp fires and BBQs) start wildfires, but the most common cause of them in Canada is lightning strikes (39%). But, ironically, it may be success in halting past natural forest fires by human intervention that has ramped up the likelihood of more massive future wildfires. The rapid control of fire in forests over the last 20 years has prevented the fire-induced regeneration of new tree growth and burning of superficial brush at ground layer, and allowed the forests to become dominated by mature and older trees and for brush to accumulate to significant depths. Once a fire breaks out in these conditions, it quickly becomes a wildfire of catastrophic proportions if the weather conditions are conducive.
Impacts
Over 8,000 residents moved away from their homes and lost their personal property during Fort McMurray wildfires. The Fort McMurray Wildfires is one of the costliest natural disasters in the history of Alberta, due to its intensity, severity and location, which is in the central part of the oil sand industry in Alberta. Communities and infrastructure2,400 structures in Fort McMurray were destroyed, however about 85 to 90% of the community was reported undamaged.
The town's power grid sustained damage. Almost the entire Fort McMurray area was placed under a boil-water advisory during the fire, since untreated water was placed into the municipal water system to supply firefighters.This was lifted in all areas of Fort McMurray on August 17, 2016.
The neighbourhoods of Waterways, Abasand, and Beacon Hill after being severely burned were then declared unsafe for reoccupation, due to contamination from arsenic and heavy metals. These neighbourhoods also do not have water service due to damages to the water system.
Oil sands operations The wildfire halted oil sands production at facilities north of Fort McMurray. Shell Canada shut down output at its Albian Sands mining operation, located approximately 70 km (43 mi) north of Fort McMurray. The company said its priority was to get employees and their families out of the region, and provide capacity at its work camp for some of the evacuees. Shell also provided its landing strip to fly employees and their families to Calgary or Edmonton and provided two teams to support firefighting efforts in the area.
Approximately one million barrels of oil a day, equal to a quarter of Canada's oil production, was halted as a result of the fire in May 2016. The lost output was estimated to cost the Albertan economy $70 million per day, and was a contributing factor to rises in global oil prices.
Responses
A rebuilding fund was added to the real GDP in Alberta’s economy in 2017, and it contributed to roughly 0.4% of the overall GDP increase of Alberta. Rebuilding of the lost assets promoted more economic and social activities than before
Alberta Sheriffs were deployed to assist the response effortThe Government of Alberta declared a provincial state of emergency for Fort McMurray on May 4, 2016, and issued a formal request for assistance from the Canadian Armed Forces.
Alberta also requested assistance from the Government of Ontario, and Ontario committed to sending 100 firefighters and 19 supervisory staff, coordinated through the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre.
Approximately 300 Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers provided security in the wildfire area.
South Africa sent 301 firefighters at the request of the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre at the end of May.
The Alberta government provided an initial $1,250 per adult and $500 per dependent to cover living expenses for those who had evacuated.
Some landlords had offered incentives to wildfire evacuees, including reduced security deposits, reduced rent, or free rent for a month or more.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited Fort McMurray on May 13 to survey the damage and promised ongoing aid from the federal government in the coming months.