Horse River Wildfire

MWF-009-16

Alberta Agriculture and Forestry

Fort McMurray Forest Area

Presented by: Bernie Schmitte, RFPT

• Lessons Learned

• Introduction to the Fort McMurray Forest Area

• Conditions leading up to May 1, 2016

• The Fire Behavior Triangle

• MWF-009-16

• Industry

• Fort McMurray

• FireSmart

• Wildfire Reviews

Overview

Lessons Learned

Relationships

Communications

Common Operational Understanding

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Fort McMurray Forest Area

• 61,000 Square Km

• First Nations

• Smith Landing FN

• ACFN – Fort Chip

• MCFN – Fort Chip

• Fort McKay FN

• FMFN – Willow Lake

• Metis

• McKay

• Fort Chip

• McMurray

• Alberta Pacific – FMA

• Northland Forest Products

• A09 Quota

• 6 Communities

• Fort McMurray

• Fort McKay

• Fort Chipewyan

• Fitzgerald/Fort Smith

• Anzac

• Gregoire Lake Est.

Fort McMurray Forest Area

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• 25 Permanent Forestry Personnel

• 90 Seasonal Personnel

• 13 Lookouts

• 3 Primary Fire Bases

• 1 Air Tanker Base

Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo

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Fort McMurray Wildfire

Management Plan

• Process started in 2014

• Risk based management planning

• Identification of risk – 4 of the 5 Provincial Priorities

• Human Life

• Community

• Watersheds and Sensitive Soils

• Natural Resources

• Infrastructure

• Analysis

• Evaluation

• Treatment strategies

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Cumulative Risk

Pre-Wildfire Season Environmental

Conditions

• Winter 2015/16 left northern boreal zones with

high drought conditions

• 2015/16 Winter temps were 4 degrees warmer

than average

• Five man-caused wildfires detected in December

2015 and early January 2016

• Winter precipitation was 46% of normal

• Snowmelt occurred 2 weeks earlier than normal

• Mid April foliar samples indicate low moisture

content - Spring Dip

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April 29, 2016

MMD-002

Parsons Creek

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April 30, 2016

MMD-003

Abasand Heights

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Mutual Aid Wildfires

April 2016

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Fuels

Fuels within 10km of the point of origin:

• Pure deciduous & coniferous stands

• Mixed-wood stands, grass, and slash

• Most stands typed as pure aspen had a

significant coniferous understory

• Green up had not occurred thus foliar moisture

content was low

• Spruce budworm infestations likely contributed to

fuel availability

• High to very high drought codes throughout area

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Topography

The terrain around Fort McMurray may appear flat:

• Fort McMurray is situated at the intersections of 4

rivers, all containing steep slopes

• Most slopes were densely vegetated which supported

an accelerated rate of spread and extended transport

of firebrands

• Industrial activity is abundant in the area which

contributes to the challenges in gaining access to the

fire. Pipeline crossings being the most significant.

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Weather

Weather conditions leading up to May 1 and beyond

were above seasonal norms.

• Winds were high and changed direction daily

• Temperatures in the high 20’s to 30 degrees

• Relative Humidity low teens

• No significant precipitation since February

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Gordon Lake Tower

May 1, 2016

HFI ROS

FFMC 92

DMC 10

DC 370

ISI 10

BUI 20

FWI 14

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MAY 1, 2016

MWF-009

• Reported 16:03

• Helitack with RW on

Loaded Patrol

• Fire Assessment at 16:08

• 2 Ha Burning in Grass

• RANK 4 – Int. Crown Fire

• 10m / min

• Air Tanker group requested

May 1, 2016

Time 16:47

MWF-009

• BD 130 Arrives with

CV580 Convair

• 2 Additional Air Tanker

Grps requested

May 1, 2016

Time 17:15

New Fire Reported

MMD-004

• CV580 diverted from MWF-009 to

new fire – MMD-004

• Fire burning on slope between

commercial and residential

property

• Tankers drop 3 heavy loads to

suppress spread towards

residential properties

May 2nd May 3rd May 5th

May 6th May 9th May 15th

May 17th May 24thMay 18th

MAY 15, 2016

Spruce Budworm Infestations 1987 – 2015

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ANZAC

YMM Radar May 5, 2016

Industry

• Multiple oil sands plants/facilities and

31 camps in vicinity of fire

• 14 camps cleared veg around facilities

• 2 camps were lost to fire

• Mitigation work done at multiple

facilities

– Suncor Firebag

– Northland Forest Products

– Camps

Blacksands Lodge

Wapasu Creek Lodge

Firebag SAGD Facility

Forest Industry - NFPL

Dickensfield

Ermine Crescent

Sicamore Place

Urban Planning

Access

Evacuation Routes

Peek Incident Status

Size - 589,522 hectares

Command Staff – 251

Fire Fighters – 1,677

Heavy Equipment – 269

Air Tankers – 22 and 10 Birddogs

Light, Intermediate, Medium Helicopters – 72

Heavy Helicopters - 5

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Mutual Aid

British Columbia 199

Quebec 44

Saskatchewan 43

Alberta 1,359

North West Territories 79

Yukon 30 Newfoundland 15

Nova Scotia 3

New Brunswick 52

Prince Edward Island 7

South Africa 299

USA 203

Mexico 41

Parks Canada, Canadian

Forest Service & CCIFC 36

Ontario 169

Manitoba 2

• The Insurance Bureau of Canada est. the cost to

rebuild at 3.7 billion

• Lost oil production ~47 million barrels of oil or

$1.4B

– 12% of RMWB GDP

– 0.5 per cent of Alberta’s GDP

– 0.06 per cent of Canada’s GDP

• 8.5 million work hours were lost in May and June

in Fort McMurray

Economic Impact

A Review of the 2016 Horse River Wildfire

Prepared by: MNP LLP

Prepared for: Forestry Division, Alberta Agriculture and Forestry

The report provides 10 recommendations and 11

opportunities for improvement

https://www.alberta.ca/assets/documents/Wildfire-

MNP-Report.pdf

Google: 2016 Horse River Wildfire Review

Agriculture and Forestry

Horse River Wildfire Review – MNP LLP

Recommendations

1. Enhance fire weather forecast materials and fire behaviour

forecasts.

2. Enhance and expand the Planning Section in the AWCC

3. Establish Standard Operating Procedures around ICS for

use with related agencies in the Wildland Urban Interface

4. Emphasize a long-term vision for FireSmart within the

province

5. Complete and implement Landscape Wildfire Management

Planning process.

Opportunities for Improvement

1. Ag Forestry, Office of the Fire Commissioner and

Municipalities to work at expanding the use

sprinkler systems to protect buildings in the WUI

2. Leverage experiences learned to jointly lead

comprehensive exercises in Emergency

Management across Alberta

3. Ag Forestry to position itself to take full

advantage of existing and emerging technologies

in decision and situation awareness tools

May 2016 Wood Buffalo Wildfire Post-Incident

Assessment Report

Prepared by: KPMG

Prepared for: Alberta Emergency Management Agency

21 Recommendations

Many having cross-government responsibilities

https://www.alberta.ca/assets/documents/Wildfire-

KPMG-Report.pdf

Google: May 2016 Wood Buffalo Wildfire Post-

Incident Assessment Report

AEMA Wildfire Post-Incident Report

1. Review the legislative framework of the

Emergency Management Act

2. Continue to invest in Prevention Programs

3. Standardize the format and process for post-

incident assessments

4. Develop a disaster resiliency strategy

5. Enhance investment in public awareness and

engagement initiatives for emergency

preparedness

6. Enhance existing public emergency

communication approaches

7. Mandate local authorities to adopt the Incident

Command system during response

Lessons Learned Recommendations from

the 2016 Horse River Wildfire

Prepared by: KPMG

Prepared for: RMWB

KPMG used a formal evaluation framework to conduct the

review. The framework is based on Preparedness, Response,

Recovery and Prevention.

https://www.rmwb.ca/News-Room/RMWB-Wildfire-

Information/Lessons-Learned-and-

Recommendations-from-the-2016-Horse-River-

Wildfire.htm

Google: RMWB Lessons Learned Horse River

Wildfire

RMWB Lessons Learned Recommendations

Horse River Wildfire

1. FireSmart Planning within RMWB - $14 million

2. Enhanced Emergency Management Planning to

meet CSA standards

3. Changes to reporting structure with clearly

defined roles. Fire Chief now reporting directly to

the CAO.

4. Training and Exercise planning for Emergency

Management

5. Relationship building and collaboration with key

stakeholders

6. Enhancement to Municipal Emergency

Management Program

Lessons Learned

Relationships

Communications

Common Operational Understanding

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Bertie Beaver was born on a drawing board at Walt Disney

Studios in 1958. Bertie was gifted to the Alberta Forest

Service for assisting Disney with a number of wildlife films

shot in Kananaskis country.