Wildfires - Alberta

• What are the 4 types of wildfires?

  Ground fire

  Crown fire

  Surface fire

  Ladder effect
• What is Ground fire?

  Fire burns in layers of dry organic peat under the ground
• What is Crown fire?

  Fire spreads across tree canopies
• What is surface fire?

  Fire burns across surface vegetation
• What is the ladder effect?

  Fire burns and spreads vertically (upwards) from the forest floor to the tree canopy layer
• What are pyrophytic plants and what are their features?

  Plants that have adapted over time to tolerate fire

  Features are:

  • Thick bark
  • Tissue with high moisture content
  • Intricate underground storage structures
• Primary impacts of wildfires?

  Deaths and injury

  Loss of wildlife

  Loss of crops, vegetation and livestock

  Release of toxic gases

  Water pollution
• Secondary impacts of wildfires?

  Displacement due to evacuation - short or long term depending on severity of impacts

  Homelessness

  Respiratory issues

  High soil erosion

  Increase in insurance for people

  Loss of jobs - people lack income, reduced quality of life

  High flood risk - burning of vegetation reduces interception and increases surface runoff
• When did the Alberta, Canada, wildfires happen?

  May 2016 - August 2017

  Wildfire swept through Fort McMurray in the east of Alberta, Canada
• Primary impacts of the Alberta wildfires?

  1,600 homes destroyed

  88,000 people evacuated

  2,400 structures of communities destroyed, however 85%-90% of the community was reportedly undamaged
• Secondary impacts of the Alberta wildfires?

  Fort McMurray power grid saw great damage

  Most of Fort McMurray had to boil any water they had

  • This was because untreated water was placed into Fort McMurray's water system to supply firefighters
  • This was lifted in August 2016

  Neighbourhoods of Waterways, Abasand, and Beacon Hill were severely burned

  • As a result they were declared unsafe for reoccupation due to contamination from arsenic and heavy metals.
  • These neighbourhoods also lacked water service due to fire damages to their water systems
• Why is Alberta important for oil production?

  Alberta is home to the Athabasca oil sands

  • These are large oil deposits rich in bitumen and petroleum, in northeastern Alberta, 43 miles north of Fort McMurray
  • These oil reserves are one of the world's largest sources of unconventional oil (meaning that the oil is extracted through drilling, fracking and developing oil sands/not using traditional extraction methods)
• How many barrels a day are produced from the Athabasca oil sands?

  2.8 million barrels a day

  • Crude oil and bitumen production (both mined and extracted in-situ) totaled 3.3 million barrels a day in 2022
  • In 2022, Alberta's oil sands had 138,000 people employed

  Overall, its oil sands reserves equate to around 158.9 billion barrels of oil
• How did the wildfires affect Alberta's oil production?

  Shell Canada shut down its oil output from the Athabasca sands (43 miles north of Fort McMurray)

  They aimed to get employees and their families away from the area and create a work camp for its evacuees

  Shell provided evacuees their landing strip to Calgary and Edmonton, and provided firefighting teams to stop the fires

  Alberta's economy lost out on $70 million a day, leading to an increase in global oil prices
• What were the primary/immediate responses to the wildfires?

  • May 2016 - Govt of Alberta declared a provincial state of emergency for Fort McMurray and requested assistance from the Canadian Armed Forces
  • Alberta requested aid from the Govt of Ontario, which sent 100 firefighters organised by the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (non-profit corp owned and operated by federal, provincial and territorial fire management agencies of Canada)
  • Alberta govt gave $1,250/ adult and $500/ dependent to cover living expenses for evacuees
  • 300 Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers provided security around the wildfire
• What were the secondary/long-term responses to the wildfires?

  • South African provided ad by sending 301 firefighters at the end of May via a request from the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre
  • May 13th - Canadian PM Justin Trudeau (2015-25) visited Fort McMurray to review the damage caused by the wildfires
  • Pledged ongoing aid from the federal govt in the coming months
  • Some landlords gave incentives to evacuees e.g. reduced rent and security deposits, living rent-free for a month+
  • 2017, Alberta's economy's real GDP received a rebuilding fund, contributing to 0.4% of Alberta's overall GDP increase
  • Rebuilding lost assets promoted higher social and economic activity than pre-wildfire levels