Smoky Skies From Albertan Wildfires
Photo Credit: Amber Bracken/The New York Times
In the past decade, the number and severity of wildfires in Alberta have increased significantly. This year’s wildfires have burned 150 times more area than the previous 5 years combined, according to data from the Alberta government. So far, more than a million acres have been burned this year. As of June 17, there have been 645 fires in Alberta.
The wildfires have been creating terrible air quality conditions across the province. In Janvier, Alberta, the Air Quality Index was measured at 338, as reported by the BBC. The AQI is assessed on a scale from 1-500 to describe how clean or polluted the air is. Anything from 301 to 500 is described as hazardous air and triggers health warnings such as heat exhaustion for all people.
The effects of Albertan wildfires stretch far beyond the borders of the province. The smoke from more than 80 active fires from Alberta have spread across Canada. CNN has stated that the smoke from Alberta fires will continue to spread to British Columbia and the Northwest Territories. Many central eastern states of the US have also been reporting poor air quality that could potentially be dangerous. As the earth gets hotter and drier due to climate change, the dry grass, shifting wind and other fuels are making fires easy to ignite, spread and intensify.
Even though lightning was a factor in the recent uptick of wildfires across Alberta, “many of the wildfires so far this season have been human-caused. That could be from anything ranging from sparks created by trains to people being careless where they throw their cigarette butts,” explained meteorologist Terri Lang from Environment Canada on CNN.
"We're bracing for some difficult conditions, both because the weather is going to be hot and dry … but also because we know that more people are going to be outdoors for the long weekend, enjoying themselves and sometimes that can lead to some unintentional wildfires," reported Josee St-Onge, an information officer with Alberta Wildfire, on CBC.
Alberta Wildfires/The Canadian Press via Global News
"The fire danger is expected to be extreme across the northern parts of the province again [Thursday], which could result in some active wildfire behaviour," Christie Tucker, information unit manager with Alberta Wildfire, said on May 18, reported CBC.
The intensity of the fires caused Alberta to request federal help on May 6, after tens of thousands of residents were forced to evacuate their homes due to the intense wildfires. However, the province’s state of emergency ended on June 3.
“We have the resources in place to protect the health and safety and well-being of Albertans without the extraordinary powers of the Emergency Management Act,” Mike Ellis, Alberta’s Minister of Public Safety and Emergency, told reporters on June 3 on Global News.
Federal Minister of Public Safety Bill Blair approved of Alberta’s request for federal assistance with the wildfires. The Canadian Armed Forces provided firefighters and resources to assist in fire fighting, airlift resources to help with mobility tasks, such as evacuating residents, and engineering support, such as providing heavy equipment.
The amount of support and resources still remain unchanged. Cyndee Evans from Alberta Emergency Management Agency explained, “The rain and cooler temperatures have helped significantly, and many evacuees have returned to their communities. However, the fire danger continues to be high and extreme in the northern part of the province, and that’s expected to continue for the foreseeable future.”