Alberta Wildfire 2016

Key Facts

• May 2016
• Nicknamed 'the beast'
• Swept along parts of Canada's Alberta province
• Evacuation of 90,000 residents
• Destroyed 2400 homes and buisness'
• No-one was killed or injured as a direct result of the fire
• 600,000ha of land burnt (roughly equivalent to the country of Norfolk)
• The fire could turn out to be canada's most costly disaster

Causes and Contributory Factors

The fire ignited in a remote forested area to the south-west of Fort Mcmurray on 1st of may 2016. The precise cause of the fire remains unknown. Intially the fire was under control, but a shift in the wind direction resulted in a blaze that tore into the outskirts of Fort Mcmurray, the largest settlement in remote Alberta.

Prior to the outbreak, the environmental conditions were extreamly favourable. A lack of winter snowfall and an early snow melt in spring combined with warmer-than-average temperatures that dried out the ground. In late April temperatures sored and, combined with the very low humidity, vegetation in the area became dry.

In the first few days of May, after the fire started, temperatures exceeded 30 degrees and winds increased. The intensity of the fire created its own weather patterns, including lightning, wich led to the ignition of additional fires. This is extreamly rare and led to the intensity and ferocity of the fire.

Scientists linked El Nino to a have a strong effect on the result in the unusually warm and dry early spring conditions. Links to climate change show an apparent increase in fires in recent decades could be a reflection of better reporting, however some scenarios suggest earlier spring in high lattitudes could extend the fire season and thereby increase the wildfire hazard.

What were the impacts?

The evacuation of an entire city caused considerable social and economic impacts. 

ENVIRONMENTAL -

• The intensity of the fire severly affected the boreal forest ecosystemdue to the scorched soil and burnt tree roots.      
• The dry and scorched peaty soils could reignite at any time until the first heavey rainfall.
• The fire will have released several million tones of co2 into the atmosphere.
• Toxins including mercury,lead and organic compounds released from burning trees and buildings created air pollution…