Alberta Wildfires

[cohan]

Alberta's turn for nature's tribulations (mercifully not on the scale-in human terms, at least- so many other places have seen).. Late spring is usually an active time for wildfires in Alberta--after snow melt-in spite of moisture in the soil in many places--conditions can be very dry due to dry grass and leaves on the ground, until new grass and leaves emerge reducing the flammability; This year has been more active than usual--so far somewhere around/over 100,000 hectares have burnt, more than all of last year... currently 100 fires burning, some individuals ones many thousands of hectares, 23 of those still out of control ..

Unusually, a town of around 7000, Slave Lake, experienced severe damage--at least 30% of it was destroyed, including the city hall, and almost all residents have been evacuated to other towns/cities.. here's a photo gallery:
http://edmonton.ctv.ca/gallery/html/edm_slavelake_gallery_051611/photo_0.html

Most of the province has been experiencing strong winds for the last week or so, which has made the situation much worse, and little to no rain...

Most of the fires are in the north of the province, far far from here, though some are/have been not so far from here, around the Crimson Lake area, just west of the town where I work, and where I have gone hiking/photographing....

[Lesley Cox]

Stay safe Cohan. At least it seems no people have been hurt or killed but what of animals? When people have to evacuate areas in a hurry, inevitably some pets will be left behind if they can't be found immediately. I hope evacuees had their animals close by with them.

[Anthony Darby]

How do they start? Lightning? Malicious? Carelessness?

[cohan]

Lesley,I forgot to mention earlier--there was a crew from Edmonton, SPCA, I think it was, heading up there on an animal rescue mission--they expected there were lots of missing/abandoned pets, including some burnt animals, and some large ones, such as horses...

Anthony, I haven't heard any specifics for these fires, but when some of the first few fires were starting some days ago, they mentioned some that were started by careless smokers All terrain vehicles are another big risk, and lightning as well.. Possible thunderstorms again next few days...

[Anthony Darby]

I think it just goes with the territory Cohan? The lodge-pole pine has evolved to cope with wild fires. It's cones open after a fire has swept through and the resulting seedlings grow very fast.

[cohan]

True in some areas, Anthony, I'm not sure what the forest is in all of these areas affected, but probably most of that region should be boreal mixed wood--white spruce and poplars with black spruce and willows in wetter areas, and jack pine on dry sites....
The effects of the fire depend partly on how quickly/intensely it burns--some of the spring fires are mostly in the grass/undergrowth, and pass through very quickly, areas with a lot of dead wood etc on the ground could get much hotter fires that could be more damaging; I haven't heard much about these specific fires, but certainly fire is not uncommon, so various species would be adapted in one way or another--even if the balance of species is changed after fire..

[Lesley Cox]

Lesley,I forgot to mention earlier--there was a crew from Edmonton, SPCA, I think it was, heading up there on an animal rescue mission--they expected there were lots of missing/abandoned pets, including some burnt animals, and some large ones, such as horses...

That is very sad. I remember the TV pictures we saw after the Victorian bushfires, the situation of both wild and domestic animals was truly heart-breaking.

[cohan]

Yes, one hopes many wild animals are able to get away, but when winds were high and the fire moving very fast, it seems unlikely, unless they are able to get to water...