Crowsnest Fires

August 2003

Figure 1: Background image1

Crowsnest Fires• The Origin of the Fire

– When: Aug. 2l, 2003.• Random seasonal wildfire • Changed direction and transformed into a giant fire.

Figure 2: Firelight2

Crowsnest fires• Features of the Fire

– 6-km wall of flame– reached 50 m into the sky, – Equivalent energy of an atomic explosion every 30

minutes.

Figure 3: Aerial image3

Crowsnest Firesan eye witness account

• Home Alone: Elaine Hruby, – Husband up north in Fort McMurray.

• At 10 a.m. authorities told her to leave. Immediately.

“I didn’t know what to take,” says Hruby, recalling her anxious departure, “You start

doing crazy things.”

Crowsnest Firesan eye witness account

• Hruby– Collected:

• Cat, dog, mining lamp, her jewelry (but not his), and a little plastic Buddha.

– Mezmerized:• drove to lookout to watch fire• From her vantage point could watch the fire descend on

Hillcrest

Despite her horror, she couldn’t stop looking

Crowsnest Firesan eye witness account

“I felt masochistic, sitting on the

outcropping,” Hruby recalls, “But those flames were like a

magnet.”

Figure 4 Forest fire4

Crowsnest Firesthe fallout

• Crowsnest Fire blaze (2003)– burned over 20,000 hectares of forest– Affecting:

• Timber industry, local businesses, tourism (especially hard hit

– But• local dry cleaners, gas stations, restaurants and office

services maintained a steady business.

Crowsnest Firesthe fallout

• Example: Spray Lake Sawmills • Benefits:

– able to use a significant amount of the burnt lumber.– With large salvage quota (28%) able to ensure burnt

lumber not wasted

• Difficulties:– Root scorch– cost of accessibility– Debarking dilemma

• burnt bark is not useable but de-barking the trees will keep the chips clean and reduce the carbon content.

Crowsnest Firesthe fallout: Ecological Pros and Cons

Positive• Certainly a burned area is

black and looks devoid of life.

• A burned area creates ecological diversity and allows for the development of rich undergrowth that wasn’t there before.

Negative• Over time burned area

creates diversity that wasn’t there before

• Large stands of timber smother the light and inhibit undergrowth – even though large stands of trees are aesthetically pleasing and profitable for the lumber industry.

Crowsnest firesGraphic sources

Figure #:1. Image obtained from: Jason Knight. (2003). Lost Creek Fire, Looking South:

July 2003, [Online Image]. Retrieved September 17, 2009, from: http://www.geog.ubc.ca/courses/geog376/students/class06/fire/lost_creek_fire_south.jpg/

2. Image obtained from: Jason Knight. (2003). Hillcrest Fire: August 2, 2003, [Online Image]. Retrieved September 17, 2009, from: http://www.geog.ubc.ca/courses/geog376/students/class06/fire/hillcrest.jpg

3. Image obtained from: Jason Knight. (2003). Ridge Forest Fire, [Online Image]. Retrieved September 17, 2009, from: http://www.geog.ubc.ca/courses/geog376/students/class06/fire/ridge_forest_fire.jpg

4. Image obtained from: Photographer unknown. (2007). Special 2 Me: Damage Control vs teaching, [Online Image]. Retrieved September 17, 2009, from: http://specialedandme.files.wordpress.com/2007/11/forest-fire.jpe?w=310&h=192