Friday
May062016
Welcome To Hell! Insane Video Of Raging Alberta Wildfires
ALBERTA EVACUATION
Evacuees from one of the largest wildfires in Canadian history document their escape.
CITIZENS FLEE THE FLAMES
Driver Escapes Fort McMurray Fire
A driver in Fort McMurray barely escapes a wildfire that has devastated his town. The wildfire spans over 2,500 hectares, has destroyed over 1,000 homes, and has forced the evacuation of 88,000 people.
May 6, 2016 at 8:09 PM
Reader Comments (16)
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-albert-wildfire-size-20160507-story.html
http://www.peshtigofire.info/
Perhaps the worst fire in US history.
You're the expert in this field, but from what I've read they have no way of stopping it.
http://dailybail.com/videos/
Thanks for the heads up about the video section!
In the case of what is going on in Canada, I would imagine similar protocols are in place. This fire is too big to send in crews for safety and liability reasons. Below is a great article covering both.
Issue of 'Firefighters Charged With Manslaughter' Discussed at Expo
http://www.firehouse.com/article/10465277/issue-of-firefighters-charged-with-manslaughter-discussed-at-expo
Fort McMurray Wildfire – Climate or Incompetence?
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2016/05/06/fort-mcmurray-wildfire-climate-or-incompetence/
The climate vultures are gathering – already attempts are being made to link the out of control Fort McMurray wildfire in Alberta, Canada with “climate change”. But there is something about this disaster which caught my eye – a comment which may hint to a very different reason, why the Fort McMurray wildfire is so out of control.
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john May 6, 2016 at 1:55 pm
As a former Fire Chief myself with a coverage area that included 2500+ sq. miles in the NE. I feel badly for those affected by the fire and the crews working to contain it. Over the last few decades logging has been in decline. Logging took care of the dead and dying trees which acts as the fuel while regenerating new growth. Those practices reduced the fire situations that we had to respond to.
Unfortunately, the environmental movement and activist landowners have purchased large swaths of land in the region banning logging and traditional use like fishing etc. when the paper companies held ownership. This now has me very concerned as the chances of major blazes increase by the year and the old logging roads and bridges are not kept up making it dangerous for fire apparatus to respond.
A few years ago a fire was started by a wind turbine in a wilderness area just outside of my jurisdiction. The event was kept quiet for several years as was a fire started by lightning striking a wind ‘met’ tower in another location. Forests do use fire for regeneration as is mentioned in the article, however, ill conceived land uses and careless campers are the main problem.
http://bangordailynews.com/2013/04/26/opinion/editorials/turbine-fire-illuminates-need-for-reporting-mandate/
http://edmontonjournal.com/news/insight/alberta-battles-the-beast-a-fire-that-creates-its-own-weather-and-causes-green-trees-to-explode
The 2001 wildfire that went through the central Alberta hamlet of Chisholm burned at 233,000 kilowatts per metre, Flannigan says. At the 2011 Slave Lake fire, the heat was 33,000 kilowatts per metre. For context, if a fire is burning at 10,000 kilowatts per metre, it’s generally deemed that aircraft water bombing is less — or no longer — effective.
The Beast is what regional fire chief Darby Allen calls the Fort McMurray fire, and it might well be that the Fort McMurray fire is burning as hot as Chisholm, an issue that Flannigan and his team will soon investigate. The two fires already share one other indicator of unprecedented intensity, with both fires producing pyro cumulonimbus clouds, thunder and lightning storms generated by the fire’s smoke column.
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I kept waiting for a spark to get into someone's exhaust and then BOOM.
Volatile winds and heavy smoke keep 500 firefighters at bay
Fire could double in size to 300,000 hectares by Sunday
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/07/alberta-wildfire-oil-fort-mcmurray-evacuations
Unseasonably hot temperatures, extremely dry conditions and winds of up to 43.5mph (70kmh), helped fuel the fire’s remarkable growth to 156,000 hectares – an area more than 15 times the size of Manhattan – up from 10,000 hectares earlier in the week. At least 1,600 homes and buildings have been destroyed by the fire.
While the fire continues to grow in size, winds have shifted its direction northeast, away from the community of Fort McMurray. With an eye on the volatile shifting patterns of the fire, a voluntary evacuation order has been issued for Fort McKay, a First Nations community of some 700 people north of Fort McMurray.
Cooler temperatures are expected in the coming days, which may aid firefighters in fighting the blaze, said Chad Morrison, Alberta’s manager of wildfire prevention. “It’s still too early to tell what exactly will happen but we are in extreme fire conditions,” he said.
Forecasts show a 30% chance of showers in the area on Sunday. “We need heavy rain for sure, the showers won’t be enough,” said Morrison. “Unless we have a significant rain event of 100mm of rain, we expect to be fighting the fires in the forested areas for months to come.”
Another 40 fires, seven of them considered out of control, continue to burn in other parts of Alberta. “The good news with this system is that other parts of the province will see some rain and that will free up firefighters to assist us here.”
Fire shifted and still out of control
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-canada-wildfire-enbridge-idUSKCN0Y71ZT?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social
On Monday, the blaze continued to burn uncontrolled, covering 285,000 hectares (704,000 acres), officials said. By Monday evening it was moving 30 to 40 meters (98 to 131 feet) per minute and had jumped a critical firebreak, where plants and trees had been removed to stop it from spreading, north of the city to push into the oil sand camp areas.
The sudden movement of the fire prompted the evacuation of some 4,000 people from work camps outside Fort McMurray, with all northbound traffic again cut off at the city, the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo said on Monday.
The entire population of Fort McMurray, about 90,000 people, was forced to flee nearly two weeks ago as the uncontrolled wildfire raged through some neighbourhoods and destroyed about 15 percent of structures.
Roughly a million barrels per day of oil sands crude production was shut down as a precaution and because of disruptions to regional pipelines. Much of that production remains offline.
Firefighters have managed to protect much of Fort McMurray but evacuated residents have not been allowed to return to their homes, partly because of hot spots around the community.
Out-of-control Alberta wildfire threatens oilsands plants
http://www.rt.com/news/343382-oilsands-plants-alberta-fire/
The blaze has been gaining strength, claiming 70,000 more hectares overnight, which brings the total to 355,000 hectares.
The fire’s eastern edge was expected to reach Saskatchewan as soon as the end of Tuesday, Morrison warned.
Alberta’s premier, Rachel Notley, voiced similar concerns at a news conference: “Mother Nature continues to be our foe in this regard and not our friend.”
The fire destroyed a 655-unit work camp north of Fort McMurray on Tuesday morning, while two other camps still remain at risk.
Alberta passes carbon tax.
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2016/06/08/alberta-carbon-tax-legislation-passed/
Carbon tax legislation, which the opposition estimates will increase household bills by $1000 / year, has just been passed by the Alberta Legislature.
Stay tuned for a new chronicle….