2019 Alberta wildfires

rdf:langString 2019 Alberta wildfires

rdf:langString Lightning, Human

rdf:langString Northern and Central Alberta, Canada

rdf:langString 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 803,393.32 hectares (1,985,228 acres), 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 146,360.08 hectares (361,664 acres). 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 (MODIS) 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 2,300 km2 (570,000 acres) by May 30 and 237,000 hectares by the evening of May 31. According to Alberta's Department of Agriculture and Forestry (AAF), the Forest Resource Improvement Association of Alberta (FRIAA) 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" (WUI) —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: Calgary, Edson, Fort McMurray area, Grande Prairie, High Level, Lac La Biche, Peace River, Slave Lake, and Whitecourt. 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.