These days, something's always burning: A fire season preview
Apr 23, 2024
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Exploring the rising wildfire danger and the impact of intense wildfires, focusing on the Fort McMurray fire. Discussing challenges in building resilient communities and adapting to a new reality of increasing fire risks in Western Canada. Will society evolve strategies to combat the devastating effects of wildfires as they get bigger?
21st-century fires require shifting focus to prioritize life-saving evacuations over direct firefighting.
Communities should adapt to reduce flammability risks by embracing initiatives like FireSmart.
Deep dives
The Fort McMurray Fire: Unprecedented Speed and Intensity
The Fort McMurray fire of May 2016 shocked Canadians due to its rapid and intense spread. With temperatures reaching 33 degrees Celsius and humidity as low as 11%, conditions were exceptionally dry and hot. This led to extreme fire behavior characterized by rapid movement that caught residents off guard. The fire moved with unprecedented speed, requiring quick evacuations and causing widespread destruction.
Challenges in Fighting 21st Century Fires
21st-century fires present new challenges with their speed and intensity, surpassing past firefighting capabilities. Firefighting operations have shifted towards prioritizing life-saving evacuations rather than directly combating the fires. The emergence of pyrocumulonimbus fire systems presents additional complexities, generating unprecedented fire behavior that resembles natural disasters like hurricanes.
Adapting Communities for Increased Fire Risks
Communities in wildfire-prone areas, like Fort McMurray, need to adapt to reduce flammability risks. Initiatives such as FireSmart aim to educate residents on making properties and neighborhoods less susceptible to fire. Despite facing a potentially vigorous fire season, proactive measures can significantly decrease the vulnerability of communities to wildfires. Embracing change and preparing for heightened fire risks are crucial steps in mitigating the impact of future fire seasons.
Today, evacuation alerts for several communities in BC and Alberta are in effect. You may not have noticed, because there are always evacuation alerts in effect now, and there are always fires burning, some of them out of control. When the whole country takes notice is when the skies over entire provinces go dark, the air turns bad or a blaze like the Fort McMurray fire in 2016 blitzes through a city.
All of that will probably happen this year. The conditions are ripe for it, and there's not much we can do to prevent a devastating fire when it comes. But we can evolve our strategies as the fires get bigger. We can adapt. But...will we?