2016 Fort McMurray wildfire

2016 Fort McMurray wildfire

Fort McMurray residents evacuating along Highway 63 as the fire encroaches on the area
Location Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, Alberta, Canada
Statistics
Date(s) May 1, 2016 (2016-05-01) – present
Burned area 101,000 hectares (250,000 acres)[1]
Buildings
destroyed		 1,600 (as of May 4)[2]
Injuries 0[3]
Fatalities 0 (direct)[3]
2 (indirect)[4]

On May 1, 2016, a wildfire began southwest of the urban service area of Fort McMurray in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, Alberta, Canada. On May 3, it swept through the community, destroying more than 1,600 homes and buildings and forcing the largest evacuation of residents in Alberta's history.

Weather conditions

An unusually hot, dry air mass was in place over Northern Alberta, which brought record-setting temperatures to Fort McMurray. On May 3 the temperature went up to 32.8 °C (91 °F),[5] accompanied by relative humidity as low as 12%.[6] The situation intensified on May 4th when temperatures reached 31.9 °C (89 °F)[7] and winds gusted to 72 km/h.[8] This significantly contributed to the fire's rapid growth.[9]

Progression of fire

The wildfire burns near Fort McMurray on May 1, 2016.

A local state of emergency was initially declared May 1 at 9:57 p.m. (03:57 UTC May 2) with the Centennial Trailer Park and the neighbourhoods of Prairie Creek and Gregoire under a mandatory evacuation.[10][11] The evacuation orders for the two neighbourhoods were reduced to a voluntary stay-in-place order by the night of May 2 as the fire moved southwest and away from the area.[12][13] However, the mandatory evacuation order was reinstated and expanded to 12 neighbourhoods on May 3 at 5:00 p.m. (23:00 UTC),[14] and to the entirety of Fort McMurray by 6:49 p.m. (00:49 UTC May 4).[9][15] A further order covering the nearby communities of Anzac, Gregoire Lake Estates, and Fort McMurray First Nation was issued at 9:50 p.m. on May 4 (03:50 UTC May 5).[16] It has been reported that 88,000 people were successfully evacuated, with no reported fatalities or injuries;[3] however, two people were killed in a traffic crash during the evacuation.[4]

The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo reported that as of May 4 at 4:00 a.m. (10:00 UTC), the communities of Beacon Hill, Abasand and Waterways have suffered "serious loss".[17] Premier Rachel Notley revealed in an update that by the morning of May 4, more than 1,600 buildings had been destroyed by the fires; the Beacon Hill neighbourhood alone had nearly 600 homes destroyed.[18] It was also estimated that 10,000 hectares (25,000 acres) of land had been burned.[19] Evacuees that traveled north of Fort McMurray were also advised to stay where they were, and not to come south on Highway 63 as the fire was still burning out of control.[17] A boil-water advisory was issued for the entire area just after 11 a.m. (17:00 UTC).[18] At 4:05 p.m. (22:05 UTC) the fire crossed Highway 63 at Highway 69, south of the city, and threatened the international airport, which had suspended commercial operations earlier in the day.[17][20] The fire also forced the re-location of the Regional Emergency Operations Centre, which was originally in the vicinity of the airport.[21]

Satellite imagery of the burn scar left by the wildfire on May 4, 2016.

The fire continued to spread south on May 5, spreading across 85,000 hectares (210,000 acres) and forcing additional evacuations in the communities of Anzac, Gregoire Lake Estates and the Fort McMurray First Nation. These communities had accepted over 8,000 people during the initial evacuations.[19][21] A provincial state of emergency was declared for the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo at 10:00 a.m. (1600 UTC).[22] The Government of Alberta announced a plan to airlift approximately 8,000 of 25,000 people that had evacuated to oil sands work camps north of Fort McMurray, with assistance from a Royal Canadian Air Force Hercules aircraft, and other planes owned by energy companies operating in the oil sands. Government officials would also examine the potential for evacuations via Highway 63 during a flyover.[19] 1,100 personnel, 45 helicopters, 138 pieces of heavy equipment and 22 air tankers were being employed to fight the fire.[22]

On May 6, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police began leading convoys to move 1,500 vehicles from oil sand work camps north of Fort McMurray, south along Highway 63 to Edmonton.[23] The fire was reported to have grown to 100,000 hectares, but was growing at a slower rate.[23][1]

Response and aid

The Government of Alberta declared a provincial state of emergency for Fort McMurray and issued a formal request for assistance from the Canadian Armed Forces.[24][25] The government and the Department of National Defence signed a memorandum of understanding on May 4, detailing required assistance and use of helicopters for rescue operations.[9] Shortly after, a CC-130 Hercules departed CFB Trenton and helicopters were dispatched to the affected area.[26] Alberta also requested assistance from the Government of Ontario, and Ontario committed to sending 100 firefighters and 19 supervisory staff, coordinated through the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre.[9] Other provinces across the country have also offered support.[26] On May 5, four CL-415 water bombers from Québec's SOPFEU took off from the province to aid in the firefighting effort.[27]

On May 4, the Alberta government committed to match donations made to the Red Cross, as well as to donate an additional $2 million as seed money.[28] The federal government also pledged to match all donations to the Red Cross on May 5.[19]

A couple days after the mass evacuation, Statistics Canada officially announced suspension of enumeration activities for the 2016 Census in the Fort McMurray area on May 5. Alternate means to collect data from its residents will be determined at a later date.[29]

Impacts

Satellite images of the fire at day (May 3, 2016) and overnight (May 5, 2016).
Airplane view

Communites

As of 5:15 p.m. MDT on May 5, the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo had reported the following damage to Fort McMurray's neighbourhoods and nearby communities:[17]

Oil sands operations

The wildfire has also halted oil sands production at facilities north of Fort McMurray, to which many residents have evacuated. Shell Canada has shut down output at its Albian Sands mining operation, located about 70 kilometres north of Fort McMurray. The company stated its priority was to get employees and their families out of the region, and provide capacity at its work camp for some of the evacuees. Shell also provided its landing strip to fly employees and their families to Calgary or Edmonton and has provided two teams to support firefighting efforts in the area.[30]

Suncor Energy and Syncrude Canada have also scaled back operations. Suncor's Millennium and North Steepbank mines are two of the largest and oldest oilsands mining operations in the Fort McMurray area, and Syncrude's Mildred Lake oilsands mine is located 35 kilometres north of Fort McMurray. The companies have accommodated another 2,000 evacuees each at their work camps.[30]

Financial

Initial insurance payouts are estimated to total as much as C$9 billion if the entire town has to be rebuilt. This would make it the most expensive disaster in Canadian history, surpassing the 1998 ice storms in Quebec ($1.9 billion) and the 2013 Alberta floods ($1.8 billion). The 2011 Slave Lake wildfire, which destroyed most of the town of Slave Lake, cost approximately $750 million and was the most expensive fire-related disaster in Canadian history. The larger damage estimates are a result of Fort McMurray being 10 times the size of Slave Lake.[31] A further estimate based on current damage pegs the insurance payouts at $2.6–4.7 billion.[32]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Fort McMurray wildfire continues to grow out of control". News 1130. May 6, 2016. Retrieved May 6, 2016.
  2. ↑
  3. 1 2 3 "Tweet from Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo". Twitter. Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo. May 4, 2016. Retrieved May 4, 2016. We have successfully evacuated 88,000 people with no reports of injuries or casualties so far #ymmfire
  4. 1 2 "2 die in fiery crash on Highway 881 south of Fort McMurray". CBC News. May 4, 2016. Retrieved May 4, 2016.
  5. ↑ "Daily Data Report for May 2016". Environment Canada. 6 May 2016. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  6. ↑ "Hourly Data Report for May 03, 2016". Environment Canada. 6 May 2016. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  7. ↑ "Daily Data Report for May 2016". Environment Canada. 6 May 2016. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  8. ↑ "Daily Data Report for May 2016". Environment Canada. 6 May 2016. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Parsons, Paige (May 3, 2016). "Thousands flee from Fort McMurray wildfire in the largest fire evacuation in Alberta's history". Edmonton Journal (Postmedia Network). Retrieved May 3, 2016.
  10. ↑ Snowdon, William (May 2, 2016). "Fort McMurray braces for high winds in battle with wildfire". CBC News Edmonton. Retrieved May 3, 2016.
  11. ↑ McDermot, Vincent; French, Janet (May 2, 2016). "Wildfire continues to threaten Fort McMurray neighbourhood". Edmonton Journal. Retrieved May 3, 2016.
  12. ↑ McDermot, Vincent; Bird, Cullen (May 2, 2016). "'A great day for us': Wildfire moves away from Fort McMurray as crews fight blaze". Fort McMurray Today. Retrieved May 3, 2016.
  13. ↑ Ivanov, Jennifer; Bartko, Karen; Heidenreich, Phil (May 3, 2016). "‘We are in for a rough day’: Fort McMurray wildfire expected to flare up Tuesday afternoon". Global News. Retrieved May 4, 2016.
  14. ↑ "Wildfire destroys Fort McMurray homes, most of city evacuated". CBC News Edmonton. May 3, 2016. Retrieved May 3, 2016.
  15. ↑ http://wildfire.alberta.ca/wildfire-status/wildfire-status-map.aspx
  16. ↑ "Municipality Announces Mandatory Evacuations for Anzac, Gregoire Lake Estates and Fort McMurray First Nation". Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo. May 4, 2016. Retrieved May 5, 2016.
  17. 1 2 3 4 "Fort McMurray Wildfire Updates". Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo. May 4, 2016. Retrieved May 4, 2016.
  18. 1 2 Barkto, Karen (May 4, 2016). "Fort McMurray wildfire update: Roughly 1600 buildings destroyed in 'catastrophic' fire". Global News. Retrieved May 4, 2016.
  19. 1 2 3 4 Edwards, Peter (May 5, 2016). "ire evacuees north of Fort McMurray to be airlifted out as 1,100 firefighters battle inferno". Toronto Star. Retrieved May 5, 2016.
  20. ↑ McConnell, Rick (May 4, 2016). "'Catastrophic' Fort McMurray wildfire prompts state of emergency". CBC News. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  21. 1 2 "Fort McMurray evacuees flee again as fire spreads: ‘It’s almost like it’s following us’". National Post. May 5, 2016. Retrieved May 5, 2016.
  22. 1 2 "Update 2: Fort McMurray Wildfire (May 5 at 10 a.m.)". Government of Alberta. May 5, 2016. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
  23. 1 2 "‘The beast is still up’: Wildfire evacuees stuck north of Fort McMurray moving south in massive RCMP convoy". National Post. May 6, 2016. Retrieved May 6, 2016.
  24. ↑ Dehaas, Josh (May 4, 2016). "Fort McMurray fire: State of emergency declared". CTV News. Retrieved May 4, 2016.
  25. ↑ "Military air assets preparing to head to Fort McMurray: source". iPolitics. May 5, 2016. Retrieved May 4, 2016.
  26. 1 2 Mas, Susana (May 4, 2016). "Trudeau says Canadians are united around Fort McMurray as federal response gets underway". CBC News. Retrieved May 4, 2016.
  27. ↑ "Four water bombers heading to Alberta" (in French). Radio-Canada. May 5, 2016. Retrieved May 5, 2016.
  28. ↑ "Alberta Government matching Red Cross donations for Fort McMurray". Alberta.ca. Alberta Government. Retrieved May 5, 2016.
  29. ↑ "Statistics Canada suspends Census collection in Fort McMurray area". Statistics Canada. May 5, 2016. Retrieved May 6, 2016.
  30. 1 2 "Wildfire forces heart of Canada's oilsands to scale back production". Montreal Gazette. May 3, 2016. Retrieved May 5, 2016.
  31. ↑ "Fort McMurray fire could cost insurers $9B, BMO predicts". CBC News. May 5, 2016. Retrieved May 5, 2016.
  32. ↑ "Insurance losses from Fort McMurray fire could top $9 billion, analyst says". Edmonton Journal. May 5, 2016. Retrieved May 5, 2016.

External links

Coordinates: 56°42′N 111°23′W / 56.700°N 111.383°W / 56.700; -111.383

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