Almost a year after the worst natural disaster in canadas history, the residents of fort mcmurray, alberta, are continuing to rebuild their lives, and come to grips with the physical, mental and environmental impacts of the wildfires and evacuation. Mcmurray wildfire, alberta, presented at the 8th international. Although these results invite more forensic evaluation into some aspects of this particular disaster, they also show that the events at fort mcmurray repeated the wellknown. Pdf on aug 1, 2016, christopher d simms and others published canadas fort mcmurray fire. Google maps smoke from a wildfire in western canada traveled across the atlantic ocean and into europe over the weekend. Fort mcmurray wildfire a case study page 5 the crisis the fort mcmurray wildfire at a glance summer in the wood buffalo region is a time of forest fires. Wood buffalo wildfire in the spring of 2016, the wildfire hazard conditions in and around the regional municipality of wood buffalo and fort mcmurray reached unprecedented levels, representing the single, largest contributing factor to what would become one of the worst wildlandurban interface fires in canadian history. Learning from the fort mcmurray wildlandurban interface fire disaster. At the beginning of may this year, a wildfire started in the forested area surrounding fort mac. Posttraumatic stress among evacuees from the 2016 fort. On may 1, 2016, a wildfire began southwest of fort mcmurray, alberta, canada.
On tuesday, may 3, 2016, nearly 90,000 people fled the city of fort mcmurray as a wildfire raged though the northern alberta community in the long hours, days and weeks that followed, a small. This plan is the property of the regional municipality of wood buffalo who reserves the right to periodically update the information in it. The forest fire in fort mcmurray, alberta, produced one of the largest recent catastrophes in canada and demonstrated a very disturbing example of individual and collective trauma. The fort mcmurray blaze set the stage for even bigger. Convoys of vehicles carrying evacuees fleeing the fire in fort mcmurray, alberta, rolled south under the watchful eye of canadian police and military friday. With high temperature, low humidity, the type of trees in the local forest, wildfires are common.
The massive fire in the city of fort mcmurray, the heart of canadas oil sands region, has caused widespread damage across the region with nearly 400 square miles torched and over 2,400 structures razed, resulting in the. Impact of fort mcmurrays wildfire on energy production. C ured, dry grass is the largest concern as fires that start will spread quickly under current conditions. Preparedness and experiences of evacuees from the 2016 fort. The devastating wildfire in the canadian province of alberta has grown tenfold, destroying more than 100,000 hectares roughly 247,000 acres by friday morning as convoys of trucks and helicopter airlifts continued evacuating the town of fort mcmurray between 80,000 and 90,000 people have already been forced to flee from their homes as alberta declared a state of emergency. Wood buffalo wildfire postincident assessment report. Fort mcmurray, canada, wildfire smoke blows into europe. Fort mcmurray blaze among most extreme of wildfires. Outpourings of support teemed in from all across canada and over the world, prompting the largest charitable response in canadian red cross history. Preliminary business impact analysis due to the wildfire. Did enhanced afforestation cause high severity peat burn.
There were a number of successful lessons identified that arose from the wildfire, some of which include. The fire which started on 01 may caused a mandatory. The halifax explosion, 100 years later in 360degrees duration. A warm, dry winter and spring left little snow in the area, depriving the forest of moisture. It has played a significant role in the development of the national petroleum industry. Surrounded by forest, it has significantly contributed to the development of the petroleum or crude oil industry on a national and international scale.
Did enhanced afforestation cause high severity peat burn in the fort mcmurray horse river wildfire. Of the 129 participants, 109 were in the fort mcmurray area on may 3. Exclusive coverage, photo galleries, videos and much more from fort mcmurray today. Fort mcmurray wildfire heroes honoured at alberta legislature. Experience with the approach and entry of the fire into the city was captured by citizens on video and shared on youtube. Special report impact report of fort mcmurray wildfire.
Red deer empathy survey control data measure fort mcmurray score red deer score p value effect size phqa score 8. The analysis in this document was conducted using publically available air quality monitoring data during the fort mcmurray wildfire. Distance from fort mcmurray, alberta, to london, united kingdom. A severe wildfire in may 2016 led to the evacuation of its. On may 3, it swept through the community, forcing the largest wildfire evacuation in albertas history, with upwards of 88,000 people forced from their homes. The blaze doubled in size to 120 ha by 8 pm and covered 1,250 ha by the following evening. Fort mcmurray wildfire stories airbus helicopters, august 22, 2016 on 1 may 2016, one of the worst urban area wildfires in canadian history broke out in the fort mcmurray area of northern alberta, resulting in the destruction of nearly one tenth of the city and forcing the evacuation of approximately 80,000 residents.
Fort mcmurray wildfire iclr the institute for catastrophic loss. This report was prepared to assess whether the soil and air quality in fort mcmurray and surrounding areas met ecological and human health guidelines during the response to the horse river wildfire of 2016 and after cleanup of the debris and damage that remained. May 2016 wood buffalo wildfire postincident assessment report. Pdf this paper presents findings from two online surveys completed after the fort mcmurray horse river fire in alberta, canada, which. March 14, 2017 ottawa, ontario canadian institutes of health research. Learning from the fort mcmurray wildlandurban interface fire disaster by alan westhaver, m. The insurance impact of the fort mcmurray wildfires risk. The jack pines, the spruces, these burn like stink, flannigan says. It is also the largest wildfire event in north america, followed by the 2003 firestorm, in which 15 wildfires burned 800,000 acres in southern california. Currently average of 7000 fires a year burn 3 million ha.
At followup, a mean of 102 days after the fire, 11 participants 10. In may 2016, an enormous wildfire threatened the city of fort mcmurray, alberta and forced the evacuation of all of the citys residents. Fort mcmurray fire department fmfd staff fought the horse river wildfire at various points in and around fort mcmurray for a week following the initial breach on may 3. Find fort mcmurray breaking news, latest stories, recent happenings, events and updates in fort mcmurray, alberta. During april, alberta contended with 329 wildfires. It quickly became the worst wildfire experienced in recent canadian history. Lessons from fort mcmurray california fire science.
The 2016 fort mcmurray horse river wildfire that caused the evacuation of more. Authorities call for the mandatory evacuation of entire city of fort mcmurray in northern alberta, canada, because of a massive wildfire. On 3 may 2016, 90,000 residents of fort mcmurray, alberta fled their homes with little notice, as a wildfire burned out of control and threatened the city. March 2017 iclr research paper series number 56 published by. Simply put, the fort mcmurray region had all the ingredients for a raging wildfire. Entire city evacuated amid wildfire in alberta, canada cnn.
The fort mcmurray fire, like the devastating 2011 slave lake fire in alberta, differs from blazes common in the province as recently as the turn of the century. Continuing to support recovery after the 2016 fort. The 2016 fort mcmurray wildfire, which was nicknamed the beast, resulted in the largest evacuation in the history of the province of alberta, canada. After the fort mcmurray wildfire there are significant increases in mental health symptoms in grade 712 students compared to controls. Fort mcmurray area update the alberta wildfire blog. These results provided information about the risk to human health posed by the wildfire smoke and further context to public health decision making. Learning from the fort mcmurray wildfire disaster preliminary report. A provincial state of emergency was declared on may 4 and the provincial operations centre poc. Fort mcmurray news, sports, entertainment, business, life. News 25 facts about the fort mcmurray wildfires the. The wildfire danger rating in the fort mcmurray forest area is very high south of fort chipewyan, and high north of lake athabasca.
The may 2016 wood buffalo wildfire was first spotted on the afternoon of may 1, at approximately two hectares in size and seven kilometres outside of fort mcmurray. Outpourings of support teemed in from all across canada. A flock of geese flies through smoke from the fort mcmurray wildfire. Not only has the unconfirmed source of the wildfire been linked to be. Wildfire information officer lynn daina says the horse river fire that started on may 1, 2016 and destroyed more than 2,400 buildings in fort mcmurray and. It is located in northeast alberta, in the middle of the athabasca oil sands, surrounded by boreal forest. Canada wildfire what are the environmental impacts. Fort mcmurray, fondly known as fort mac, is a canadian town located in northeast, alberta. By may 3, the wildfire had grown in size and high winds drove the fire into the community. Effects of the fort mcmurray wildfires on the health of. Conceptual model of ozone formation from the fort mcmurray wildfire 8. Demonstration of wildfire plume affecting ozone levels at chicopee and ware monitors 43 9. Hot, windy weather dried out the trees and grasses of albertas picturesque heartlands. This qualitative study, which drew from phenomenological and visual research methods, used youtube videos as a data.
Pdf residents experiences of the 2016 fort mcmurray wildfire. As a result, almost 88,000 people were evacuated from the region in a very short period of. The wildfire would burn on until july and eat up some 500,000 hectares of forest. Untold stories of the fort mcmurray wildfire mel angelstad duration. The evacuation of the urban service area of fort mcmurray was completed within a day, and. Firefighters were assisted by personnel from both the canadian forces and royal canadian mounted police, as well as other canadian provincial agencies, to fight.
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