2019 Alberta wildfires
The 2019 Alberta wildfires have been described by NASA as part of an extreme fire season in the province. In 2019 there were a total of burned by Sam Jones, which is over 3.5 times more land area burned than in the five-year average burned. The five year average is 747 fires destroying. There were 644 wildfires recorded in Alberta. By May 31, 10,000 people had been evacuated, 16 homes, and the Steen River CN railway bridge, had been destroyed.
The department of Agriculture and Forestry's Forest Protection Division reported that by May 31, there were 29 wildfires still burning with nine out-of-control fires. As of June 20, there are a total of 27 wildfires burning with 6 being considered out of control. Of these, five were caused by humans and two by lightning with 20 still under investigation.
On May 30, NASA reported that the Terra satellite's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer had collected satellite images of five large "hot spots" on May 29. The fire danger level of four of these five areas—the Steen River wildfire HWF066, the Chuckegg Creek wildfire HWF042, the Peace River area, and the Slave Lake area—was extreme. The fifth, at Wood Buffalo National Park was designated as very high.
One fire, described as a fast growing "monster", the Chuckegg Creek Fire HWF042—unofficially known as the High Level fire—had forced the evacuation of 5,000 people in the High Level Forest Area, northern Alberta, and had burned by May 30 and 237,000 hectares by the evening of May 31.
According to Alberta's Department of Agriculture and Forestry, the Forest Resource Improvement Association of Alberta FireSmart program, Alberta communities are under an increased risk of forest fires because fifty per cent of Alberta is covered in forests and because of Alberta's "wildland/urban interface"—where many communities are nested into forests with buildings and forested areas intertwined. The province's designated Forest Protection Area stretches from north to south of the province along the western border with British Columbia.
For purposes of monitoring, the Alberta's wildfire status map subdivides the Forest Protection Area into these areas: , , , , , , , , and .
There was smoke from Alberta's wildfires over southern Alberta, southern B.C. Interior and the Lower Mainland, including the city of Vancouver as well as the U.S. Pacific Northwest, reaching as far south as Denver, Colorado. Air quality in cities such as Edmonton and Calgary, reached 10+ out of 10 rating, which is considered to be a severe risk.
Historical comparison
In 2019, the there have been 644 wildfires in the Forest Protection Area with a total of burned as of June 20. The current 5-year average is 664 wildfires with burned.Progression
By May 30, in the Forest Protection Area of Alberta, there were 27 wildfires, ten of which that were out of control, 2 were being held, 9 were under control and 6 were "turned over to the responsible parties".By May 30, with three major wildfires spreading quickly overnight on May 29, there were about 10,000 wildfire evacuees. Thousands more were waiting on evacuation alerts.
The Department of Agriculture and Forestry's Forest Protection Division reported that by May 31, there were 29 wildfires still burning with nine out-of-control fires. Of these, ten were caused by humans and one by lightning with 20 still under investigation. The total number of hectares burned was 496,739.19 or. There were nine fires that were out of control. compared to six on May 27.
By early morning on June 1, the area had increased to 528,842.99 hectare or. increasing to 571,770.49 hectare or within several hours.
By May 31, 10,000 people had been evacuated, 16 homes, and the Steen River CN railway bridge, had been destroyed.
In terms of the number of wildfires alone, from March 1 to May 30, the number of fires in 2019 was "slightly under the five-year average" but the "amount of land burned is more than 3.5 times higher."
Weather conditions
In an Edmonton Journal interview in the afternoon of May 30, Alberta Wildfire's information unit lead, Christie Tucker, said that from the evening of May 29 through to late afternoon May 30, multiple wildfires were moving faster than they normally would", "even at night when they wouldn't traditionally be moving so quickly" because of the "ongoing dry windy conditions" with "very low humidity", creating a challenge for firefighters.Alberta's Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, Devin Dreeshen, said on May 30 that there were nine out-of-control fires. He said that this "fight is going to be a tough one" as the weather was "not co-operating for the long-distance forecast for the next two weeks. It's more of the same, of hot, dry and windy conditions. Albertans need to prepare themselves for this situation for the foreseeable future."
Edson District
In the Edson Forest Area, the wildfire that is officially named EWF043, which was detected on May 29 and has burned, was categorized as out-of-control by May 30, 2019. EWF043, which was moving south west, was about south east of Edson.| official name | date assessed | location | fire status | cause | area burned |
| EWF033 | May 19, 2019 AM | near Highway 16 south of Marlboro, Alberta; crossed Highway 16 | UC | UI | 65 ha |
| EWF043 | May 29, 2019 | location | OC | UI | 200 ha |
Fort McMurray District
By May 30, the Fort McMurray Forest Area had one fire, MWF012, which is within CNRL Albian, that is expected to be under control by the first week in June. MWF012 had burned by May 30.| official name | date | location | fire status | cause | area burned |
| MWF012 | May 30 | location | UC | Oil and gas industry | |
| MWF020 | May 30 | location | UC | UI | .48 acres |
High Level District
In the High Level Forest Area, by May 30, 2019 there were two active and out-of-control wildfires. The largest is the Chuckegg Creek wildfire, officially named HWF042 which burned. The second was the Jackpot Creek Wildfire HWF066 in the Steen River area which had burned.According to the federal Minister of Public Safety Ralph Goodale, on the evening of May 31, the province of Alberta requested assistance with "the massive forest fires" near High Level and Slave Lake. In response the Canadian Armed Forces were mobilized to support evacuations, medical assistance, among other things.
Chuckegg Creek wildfire HWF042
The High Level wildfire, officially known as the Chuckegg Creek wildfire HWF042, started on May 12, 2019. At first it burned northwest.On May 19 the 25,300-hectare Chuckegg Creek wildfire was about southwest of High Level, a town with about 3,000 residents. The fire almost tripled in size to overnight on May 19. On May 20, with the fire within of the town High Level, a state of local emergency and an evacuation alert were issued.
By May 28, Global News described it as a "monster." According to Alberta Wildfire's Christie Tucker, between 12:00 noon on May 29 and 4 a.m. on May 30, the Chuckegg Creek fire grew by 80,00 hectares to 230,000 hectares. Tucker said that it was unusual for a wildfire to move so quickly especially at night.
HWF042 spread south near Watt Mountain in the Paddle Prairie area in the Peace River Area.
The Paddle Prairie Metis Settlement, which is about south of the High Level on the Mackenzie Highway, had to evacuate without much warning. Fifteen homes in the community were completely destroyed. Concerns were raised about the lack of outside support from structural firefighters. According to Christi Tucker, the heavy smoke made it difficult for outside structural firefighters and structural protection units to fly into the settlement so local structural firefighters were protecting buildings and infrastructure. Tucker also said that the fire was moving so fast it was hard to get ahead of it.
| official name | date | location | fire status | cause | area burned hectares |
| HWF008 | April 2 | location | TO | Incendiary | 0.01 |
| HWF026 | May 2 | location | TO | UI | 0.01 |
| HWF031 | May 6 | location | TO | UI | 0.01 |
| HWF042 * | June 25 | location | OC | UI | 331,946.24 |
| HWF066 | May 27 | Steen River | OC | cause | 77,468.00 |
The Chuckegg Creek Fire HWF042 spread into the Paddle Prairie area in the Peace River Forest Area.
Grande Prairie District
The Grande Prairie Area was categorized as very high danger of wildfires on May 30, 2019.Lac La Biche Area
From March to the end of August 2019, there were 142 wildfires in the Lac La Biche Area.| official name | date | location | fire status | cause | area burned hectares |
| LWF085 | May 12 | location | EX | U | 21.00 |
| LWF086 | May 12 | location | EX | U | 125.00 |
| LWF087 | May 13 | location | EX | Forestry industry | 23.00 |
| LWF099 | May 18 | location | EX | Agricultural industry | 33.67 |
| LWF107 | May 21 | location | EX | UI | 38.00 |
| LWF123 | June 16 | location | EX | UI | 1711.30 |
Peace River District
The Peace River Forest Area was categorized as in extreme danger of wildfires on May 30, 2019. Of the 70 wildfires in the Peace River Forest Area in 2019, only five fires were still burning. The Battle Complex known as PWF052 had already burned 52,322 hectares in size in the Notikewin Area remains out-of-control at 52,322 hectares was out of control. In the Battle River area, the 74.23-hectares PWF054 was under control. Near Keg River, PWF070 had burned 251 hectares. PWF064 burned 0.01 hectares, PWF066 in the Three Creeks area, burned 10.50 hectares.The High Level Forest area wildfire, Chuckegg Creek Fire or HWF042, had spread into the Paddle Prairie area in the Peace River Forest Area.
| official name | date | location | fire status | cause | area burned hectares |
| PWF052* | date | Manning/Notikewin | OC | 52,322 | |
| PWF054* | date | UC | 74.23 | ||
| PWF066 | May 18 | Three Creeks | TO | 10.50 | |
| PWF070 | May 26 | Near Keg River | BH | UI | 251.00 |
| PCX001 total | date | location | 52,868.00 |
- The Battle Complex PCX001-2019 include PWF052
Slave Lake District
Wildfires SWF049 which started on May 18 is part of the Mcmillan Wildfire Complex. It was out of control by May 30 having grown considerably on May 29. It has burned 133,952 hectares.
The Maria Lake wildfire, SWF069, southeast of Trout Lake, was classified as out-of-control on May 30 as it had rapidly grown to 45,845 hectares. It joined McMillan wildfire SWF049. By June 1, the out-of-control SWF069 fire covered 58,579 hectares.
The community of Trout Lake, which is approximately was issued an emergency alert by May 27, when the fire was 300 hectares in size. On May 31, the evacuation order was issued for Trout Lake as "early-morning southeast winds pushed" the 211,869-hectare fires—SWF049 and SWF069 —that make up the McMillan Complex were "rapidly toward the area".
| official name | date | location | fire status | cause | area burned hectares |
| SWF031 | May 13 | location | TC | UI | 0.01 |
| SWF069 | May 26 | Maria Lake/near Trout Lake | OC | UI | 4,845 |
| SWF077 | May 30 | location | BH | UI | 2.60 |
| SWF078 | May 30 | location | OC | UI | 30.00 |
| SWF079 | May 30 | location | OC | UI | 260.00 |
| SWF080 | May 30 | location | BH | UI | 0.30 |
| SWF081 | May 31 | location | BH | UI | 1.70 |
| SCX001 McMillan Complex | CS | ||||
| SWF049* | May 30 | location | OC | UI | 260.00 |
| SWF050* | May 30 | location | 0.30 | ||
| SWF081* | May 31 | location | 1.70 | ||
| SCX001 McMillan Complex total | May 31 | location | BH | UI | 13,409.00 |
| Slave Lake total | May 31 | location | 18,548.61 |
- SCX001 McMillan Complex
Whitecourt District
| official name | date | location | fire status | cause | area burned hectares |
| WWF028 | May 21 | location | UC | UI | 20.30 |
| WWF032 | May 28 | location | OC | UI | 51.90 |
| WWF033 | May 28 | location | UC | UI | 3.60 |
| Whitecourt area total | May 28 | location | OC | UI | 75.80 |
Evacuations
On May 19, an evacuation order for High Level and Bushe River Reserve were issued. Further evacuation orders for certain areas around La Crete Ferry Campground, Range Road 164, Highway 697, the County of Northern Lights, the Twin Lakes campground, near Notikewin River, Township Road 922, the Hamlet of Wabasca, and Bigstone Cree Nation on May 29. And on May 30, the Hamlet of Sandy Lake was under an evacuation order.By May 30, 5,000 High Level area residents were still unable to return home.
On May 30, a new wildfire forced the evacuation of the Chipewyan Lake Village, which is west of Fort McMurray.
The Municipal Affairs Minister Kaycee Madu said that by May 29 there were 9,500 people who had already been evacuated. Additional evacuation orders had been issued on May 30. Madu announced that financial assistance of over 6 million was processed and over 6,200 people had already applied for relief payments.
According to a May 31 article in the Global News, 10,000 people had been evacuated and 16 homes had been destroyed. A combination of wind gusts and high temperatures on May 30 caused an "explosive growth" of out-of-control wildfires.
About 5,000 people have been out of their homes in and around High Level for more than a week and a series of smaller communities, including Wabasca, the Bigstone Cree Nation and Chipewyan Lake Village, have fallen under evacuation orders since Wednesday.
Buildings and structures destroyed
In the Paddle Prairie Métis Settlement in the High Level Forest Area, 11 homes were destroyed by May 30.The Steen River CN Rail bridge was destroyed by the Steen River wildfire HWF066 on May 29.
Smoke
By May 30, NASA reported that with high north northwest winds, the Chuckegg Creek Fire HWF042 was quickly growing "in a south to southeast direction" and the massive smoke from the fire has reduced visibility and resulted in Environment Canada, Alberta Environment and Parks, Alberta Health and Alberta Health Services issuing air quality warnings with the index reaching dangerous levels in some areas.The government of the Yukon Territory issued a smoke advisory for Watson Lake on May 21 and by May 23 the smoke plume had reached Dawson City. By the end of May there were already eighteen wildfires in Yukon but these fires were not responsible for the smoke.
By the early morning of May 30, Alberta Air Quality Health Index had rated the air quality in the Edmonton metro region at 7 out of 10, which is high risk and 5 out of 10 later in the morning. Environment Canada issued a special air quality statement for Edmonton, St. Albert and Sherwood Park.
By May 30, smoke from Alberta's forest fires had reached as far south as Denver, Colorado. In some cities, such as Minneapolis and Milwaukee in Minnesota, Chicago, Illinois, Detroit, Michigan and Kansas City, Missouri the "sun was obscured by smoke" from Alberta's wildfires, according to the National Weather Service's Twin Cities Branch. By May 31 the smoke plume had reached Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Washington and Wyoming. Three cities in Montana had air quality warnings.
By early evening May 30 Calgary's air quality was rated as 8 out of 10, which is high risk.
By the morning of May 31, the Air Quality Health Index for Calgary was registered at 10+ which is a very high risk.
By May 28, smoke had flowed to southern Alberta, southern B.C. Interior, to the Lower Mainland, including "Metro Vancouver and much of the U.S. Pacific Northwest".
Aerosols
According to NASA, aerosols have been "growing more dense" in the area affected by the smoke from Chuckegg Creek fire with particulates rising into the atmosphere. By May 23, NASA had published an "image of the aerosols stretching from Alaska to the Atlantic". May 23 images captured by the Suomi NPP satellite's Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite sensor and the Visible and Infrared Imaging Sensor showed that aerosol levels Chuckegg Creek fire near High Level showed "medium to high level amounts of pollution, particulates in the form of smoke, dust, and ash". The "higher levels of smoke coincide with the areas of red on the aerosols image and the areas where the smoke is less dense coincide with the lighter yellow areas of the aerosols image as would be expected."Fire Radiative Power (FRP)
According to Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service 's senior scientist, Mark Parrington, the 2019 Alberta wildfires's Fire Radiative Power up to May 29, placed fifth in the list of the "most intense annual FRP totals since 2003."Causes
By May 30, the cause of 20 fires was still under investigation. One was caused by lightning and 10 were caused by humans.Climate change
professor Mike Flannigan, said the extended wildfire season, which used to start April 1 and now officially starts on March 1, and that he and his colleagues "attribute that to human-caused climate change." The Calgary Herald reported that because of climate change, in the coming years, the prairie provinces would "see a longer fire season, more frequent wildfires, heat and drought.”Fire-fighting
By the evening of May 30, there were 600 firefighters in Alberta and more on the way, from other provinces, including British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Northwest Territories, and Prince Edward Island.The managing director of Alberta Emergency Management Agency, Shane Schreiber, said in a May 30 interview that the government had raised the Emergency Operations Center to level four. Level four means that all provincial government departments as well as federal departments such as the Department of National Defence and Public Safety Canada, Indigenous Services Canada, some industrial organizations such as CN Rail, and NGOs are helping to coordinate support. Schreiber said that by May 30 approximately "200 structural firefighters and structural protection units" arrived in the affected areas from Albertan communities to protect buildings and infrastructure.
By May 31, across northern Alberta, there were 737 people working in 61 wildland Firefighting Crews with 6 Airtankers, 11 Rotor Wing Lights, 38 Rotor Wing Intermediates, 63 Rotor Wing Mediums, 10 Water Trucks, 44 Dozers, and 3 Skidders fighting the fires.
On May 31, Alberta requested assistance from the federal government with the huge forest fires that threatened High Level and Slave Lake. The Canadian Armed Forces will help support evacuations, including airlifting evacuees, transporting supplies and providing medical assistance, among other things.
Agencies
The Department of Agriculture and Forestry, is responsible for "fire bans, FireSmart, wildfire compliance and enforcement, wildfire maps and data, wildfire operations, wildfire prevention, and wildfire status".Devin Dreeshen was named as AAF minister on April 30, 2019 by the newly-elected Alberta Premier, Jason Kenney.
At the provincial level, the Emergency response and recovery is responsible for "emergency and disaster response, recovery, legislation and supports". The Alberta Emergency Management Agency is responsible for "fire reporting, and search and rescue".
The Forest Resource Improvement Association of Alberta FireSmart program which operates under the AAF department, reported that Alberta communities are under an increased risk of forest fires because fifty per cent of Alberta is covered in forests. Alberta's "wildland/urban interface" means that in many communities buildings and forested areas intertwined. The province's designated Forest Protection Area stretches from north to south of the province along the western border with British Columbia.
As of 2017, Alberta's designated Forest Protection Area stretched from north to south of the province along the western border with British Columbia.
At the federal level, Natural Resources Canada on May 30, announced a $500,000 grant to the Canmore-based Rockies Institute, to develop a "multi-partner, multi-year" "wildfire resilience project" called "Fire With Fire". The Rockies Institute plan to build on a "pilot project undertaken with the Kainai Nation in southern Alberta. In the fall of 2018, the Institute submitted their project for funding under the federal government's Building Regional Adaption Capacity and Expertise program, which is "under the umbrella of the federal government's $18 million strategic investment program—Adaptation and Climate Resilience. The collaborative approach uses scientific knowledge of fire management that includes the best practices based on scientific knowledge which incorporates "Indigenous scientific knowledge of fire management" "for local, regional and provincial climate change adaptations." For example, indigenous communities, that have for many years managed used the methodology of "prescribed", "deliberately set" smaller burns at different times of the year. Australia has incorporated this methodology since at least 1999.