Canada is on fire

[WillBrink]

Well no all of it, but large section of it looks almost of end of the world type devastation. Amazingly, I believe no one has died as of yet.

Canada wildfire: Alberta blaze threatens neighbouring province

A huge wildfire raging in the Canadian province of Alberta is growing further and could spill into neighbouring Saskatchewan, officials say.

Hot, dry and windy conditions are hampering efforts by hundreds of firefighters to tackle the blaze.

Officials say it is not uncommon for such fires to go on for months.

The flames have already caused the evacuation of 80,000 people from the oil city of Fort McMurray, and thousands are still stuck to the north.

Their evacuation, originally planned for Saturday, will now take place on Sunday.

"In no way is this fire under control,'' said Alberta Premier Rachel Notley.

The wildfire now covers an area of more than 700 sq miles (2,000 sq km), which includes areas still ablaze and areas already burnt.

Cont:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-36238076

http://www.toledoblade.com/image/2016/05/05/800x_b1_cCM_z/APTOPIX-Canada-Wildfire-2.jpg

[duece71]

Somebody left the door to hell open..........crazy.

[Outlander Systems]

The rear dash cam shows how wicked the flames are. With my luck, my tire would pop in the middle of that.


http://youtu.be/Fym6X-JvEOs

[murphman]

Been a pretty devastating month for our family. Parents house was flooded in the 500 year rain storm that hit Houston in April, their neighborhood made national headlines. Now a cousin of mine had to evacuate their home in Canada from the fires and the latest update from them is their neighborhood is completely gone.

[Moose-Knuckle]

http://www.toledoblade.com/image/2016/05/05/800x_b1_cCM_z/APTOPIX-Canada-Wildfire-2.jpg

That looks like a scene from Cormac McCarthy's The Road.

[J-Dub]

You have to wonder when this is going to happen here. Anyone here in wildland fire fighting care to share your opinion? I for one think its the culmination of decades of too much fire suppression leading to far too much under growth (fuel).

I suspect that after this round of El Nino northern Colorado/Southern Wyoming is going to be due for a huge fire (which will be compounded by all of the beetle kill).

But I could be wrong.

[soulezoo]

I have a couple of friends that live(d) in Ft McMurray.

Prayers to them. I have not been able to contact them since evacuations took place.

[Averageman]

You have to wonder when this is going to happen here. Anyone here in wildland fire fighting care to share your opinion? I for one think its the culmination of decades of too much fire suppression leading to far too much under growth (fuel).

I suspect that after this round of El Nino northern Colorado/Southern Wyoming is going to be due for a huge fire (which will be compounded by all of the beetle kill).

But I could be wrong.

There are some Environmentalists who will tell you there is no reason to go in to cut firebreaks or to cut out the undergrowth from Forests. One of my Professors claimed it was unnecessary and devastated the Forest floor. I actually got a "C" for recommending firebreaks on an end of term paper for suggesting the merits of firebreaks.
I hope that Mope is watching this.

[Whiskey_Bravo]

There are some Environmentalists who will tell you there is no reason to go in to cut firebreaks or to cut out the undergrowth from Forests. One of my Professors claimed it was unnecessary and devastated the Forest floor. I actually got a "C" for recommending firebreaks on an end of term paper for suggesting the merits of firebreaks.
I hope that Mope is watching this.

Wont matter if he is watching or even if he was there and having to evacuate. He would just blame it on global warming.

[masan]

My brother is an Interagency Hotshot, and he and his crew have been diverted from this fire and sent elsewhere, twice... Bureaucracy

[alvincullumyork]

You have to wonder when this is going to happen here. Anyone here in wildland fire fighting care to share your opinion? I for one think its the culmination of decades of too much fire suppression leading to far too much under growth (fuel).

I suspect that after this round of El Nino northern Colorado/Southern Wyoming is going to be due for a huge fire (which will be compounded by all of the beetle kill).

But I could be wrong.

I fought fire for four years with the forest as a dedicated firefighter not as a trail crew fill in. I was mostly on type 2 initial attack crews(slow speed guys) but filled in with two type 1 hot shot crews (high speed guys) for 5 dispatches. I left as a type 1 firefighter.

You're partially right but there is more to it. The forest service was and still is way to good at putting out fires. This has left a lot of fuel on the ground that normal healthy forest fires would consume every few years. Sure beetle kill plays a part as well but mostly it's just a stacking of the right conditions that are really unpredictable.

Everyone (even firefighters) say this is going to be a crazy year, there is so much snow in the mountains the grass will be huge and dry out in the summer. Or there's no snow in the mountains there is going to be a drought. And then it rains all summer and nothing happens or the entire western US blows up... It can be a super dry summer with no RH and nothing happens because there weren't very many starts. Or it could be a wet summer and then a two week period where everything dries out and you get a couple of starts that turn into project fires or complex fires.

Whenever I hear someone say this year is going to be a good or bad fire season I tell them we will see when it's over.

There is a great book called The Big Burn. It details the largest forest fire ever record in the US and covers the formation of the forest services and the roots of 100% suppression. Great book with some crazy stories. One guy held his crew at gun point in a cave to save their lives.


My brother is an Interagency Hotshot, and he and his crew have been diverted from this fire and sent elsewhere, twice... Bureaucracy

The Forest Service is bad at a lot of things and it seems like they are totally incompetent from the ground pounder level but they are actually usually very good at resource allocation. I imagine that right now, since the season hasn't really started they are hurting for crews in every region, since most of the seasonal crews haven't come online yet. They can't abandon entire regions to fight one fire they have to maintain certain staffing levels during different times in different areas.

I got bounced around a couple of times driving across multiple state lines fighting multiple fires. It's frustrating when you want to make money and see cool shit. It's really frustrating when they just send you home.

What crew is your brother on? Is he a squaddie, senior, sup,...? Shot crews are bad ass.

[masan]

PM inbound with more specific answers.

This is his 5th year as a Hotshot, and I think 11th with the Forest Service. I have often heard similar things to what alvincullumyork said, from many of the firefighters. One statement that almost always ends up finishing those conversations is "it needs to burn".

I think you are likely correct, his crew only had their seasonals come in about 2 weeks ago.

Also, I was mistaken, they were only diverted once, not twice.