#15 Forest Fire Management in Canada

Canadian wildfires are now breaking their own records every few years. This year’s spring wildfire season saw much of North America engulfed in smoke and soot from Canadian wildfires.

The fires were fierce, mega-sized, numerous, and out of control. And they were too early in the season.

Beginning in March 2023 and increasing in intensity around June,?Canada?has been affected by an ongoing record-setting series of?wildfires. As the worst wildfire season in recorded Canadian history,

11 Canadian provinces and territories?have been affected, with large fires in?Alberta,?Nova Scotia?and?Ontario and Quebec.

As of June?14, 2,619 fires have burned 5,291,261 hectares (13,074,991 acres).As of June 14, there were 385 active wildfires, 130 of which were deemed "uncontrolled".

However the truth of the matter is these fires are preventable.

While fire fighters from Canada, the United States, and many other countries have done a heroic job suppressing the fires eventually, the damage had been done. It will be years before full extent of damage to health to hundreds of millions of people across North America and as far as Nordics will be known.

ForestSAT AS we are dedicated to forest fire prevention and smart, data-driven mechanisms to bring resilience and sustainability to wildlands. To understand wildfire management, we should start with:

Causes of Wildfire Ignition in Canada

What causes start of wildfire

What causes wildfires in British Columbia? There are two broad categories of causes:

1. Lightning (and a rare chance of other natural causes) causes approximately 60% of wildfires

2. Human activity causes approximately 40% of wildfires

Natural (lightning) caused wildfires

Most wildfires in B.C. are started by lightning strikes. When lightning strikes an object it can release enough heat to ignite a tree or other fuels.

Although lightning-caused fires cannot be prevented, there are ways of predicting where they might start. The risk from natural fires can also be reduced with fuel management and prescribed burning

Human-caused wildfires

The most important thing about human-caused wildfires is that they are preventable. The easiest way to fight a wildfire is to prevent it from starting.

Humans start wildfires in several ways, either by accident or intentionally. For example:

● Open burning

● Vehicle and engine use

● Industrial activity

● Fireworks, sky-lanterns, outdoor flame lighting

● Discarding burning items (cigarettes)

● Arson

Determining wildfire cause

The cause of a wildfire is determined by professional investigations. The BC Wildfire Service employs Fire Origin and Cause Specialists to conduct investigations in accordance with international standards. They may look for:

● Ignition Sources

● Burn Patterns

● Physical Evidence

● Weather History

Wildland Fire Management Strategy

Fire Management Strategy : The Wildland Fire Management Strategy (2014) provides direction for how the ministry manages wildland fires across Ontario.

The goals of the wildland fire management program are to:

● prevent loss of human life and injury

● prevent and mitigate losses including economic and social disruption

● promote understanding of the ecological role of fire

● use fire to benefit resource management

The goals of Wildland Fire Management Strategy are supported through five objectives, which form the foundation of our wildland fire management:

????????1. Prevent

The threat to people and values is diminished by reducing the number of human-caused wildland fires.

????????2. Mitigate

Property owners and land managers take action to mitigate the undesirable impacts of wildland fires on their property or other values.

???????????3. Respond

All fires are assessed and receive an appropriate response.

?????????4. Understand

The people of Ontario are aware of and support the ecological role of wildland fire.

??????????5. Apply

Wildland fires and prescribed burns are safely and effectively used to reduce wildland fire hazards and meet ecological and resource management objectives.

Fire Ecology

thecanadianencyclopedia

Fire, along with climate and soil , is one of the three primary natural factors that have shaped the present Canadian forest . Much of this forest is, in its natural state, ecologically dependent on recycling by random periodic fire for its long-term stable existence on the landscape. Exceptions to this pattern include the southeastern hardwood forest, forests in the wetter areas of the East and West Coasts, and forested bogs and swamps in general. In the boreal forest , for example, the main tree species are black spruce , jack pine , lodgepole pine, trembling aspen and white birch , all of which are adapted to regenerate even after all individuals over a large area have been killed by fire. Aspen suckers grow directly from its root systems, while other hardwoods sprout from the base of dead trees. Jack and lodgepole pines and black spruce store live seed in their crowns for years, only shedding them after the cones are opened by heat from a fire.

Other prominent species, such as red and white pine, white spruce and Douglas fir , require ground that has been prepared and opened up by fire for optimum regeneration, but some individuals must survive to supply seed. In pre-colonial times, ignition was mainly by lightning, and, without control, perhaps two to three times as much area burned annually as at present. Ecologically, then, fire is neither good nor bad, but simply an environmental necessity for the perpetuation of the forest in its natural state.

Wildfire Economics

Forest fire represents an enormous economic loss to society and especialy to forest-dependent industries. The cost of fighting forest fire ranges between $800 million and $1.4 billion per year. (See also Forest Economics .)

The ecological realities of fire create a dilemma in large natural parks and other unmanaged areas because certain kinds of forests cannot be maintained in perpetuity in the absence of fire.

The administrators of Canada’s national parks develop operational combinations of fire control and prescribed fire to cope with this problem. The interaction of ecological and economic factors complicates forest-fire management in general, and debate is ongoing about the optimum level of fire-control effort. The Canadian Forestry Association and the provincial forestry departments carry out fire-prevention programs aimed at educating people about their responsibilities toward the forest.

Future ?re weather scenarios

researchgate

Numerous GCMs have been developed by different groups around the world and several of these scenarios have been selected by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for their recent assessments of global climate change impacts (IPCC 2001, 2007). Numerous model intercomparisons have been car-ried out (Covey et al. 2003; Meehl et al. 2007; Randall et al.2007). For the development of future scenarios of forest fuel moisture that can be used to realistically drive models of daily expected numbers of fires, daily GCM output is needed across the area being studied. Using these extremely large datasets, data

Reduction and the development of daily fire weather datasets that are useful inputs to existing fuel moisture models (e.g. Van Wagner 1987) can be quite time-consuming and computationally complex. In the process of data reduction and interpretation, it can also be helpful to have direct relationships with the GCM modelers responsible for original scenario development to understand assumptions and limitations in the model. We obtained our daily datasets from two well-established GCMs: the Canadian Climate Centre (CCC) and from the UK’s Hadley Centre (HAD). These GCMs have both been used by the international climate change impacts modeling community for well over 15 years, both used in the last three IPCC assessment reports(IPCC 1995, 2001, 2007) and provide projections consistent with other global warming projections (Covey et al. 2003; Meehlet al. 2007; Randall et al. 2007). From the CCC, daily data was obtained from the first generation coupled ocean-atmosphere model (CGCM1; Flato et al.2000) for three 21-year time slices spanning 1975–1995, 2020–

2040 (referred to hereafter as the 2030 scenario) and 2080–2100 (referred to hereafter as 2090 scenario). This model included both greenhouse gas and sulfate aerosol forcing contributing to a 1% increase in CO2per year. This is similar to an A2 emission scenario used in the fourth IPCC assessment (IPCC 2007),a ‘business-as-usual’ scenario very commonly used in climate change impacts studies.

Given that greenhouse gases have beenfound recently to be increasing at rates faster than this 1% per year (Raupach et al. 2007), we believe that for the purposes of this study, this represents a realistic ‘middle of the road’ emission scenario for the future. The time period 2080–2100 roughly corresponds to an equivalent 3×CO2 scenario when including the net radiative effect of all the greenhouse gases. The grid spacing is ～3.75?longitude by 3.75?latitude. Daily data from Fire occurrence and climate change Int. J. Wildland Fire 257 the Hadley Centre was obtained for time slices from 1975–1990 and the 2090 scenario from the HadCM3 model (Hulme et al. 1999). This implementation of the Hadley model, more formally known as HadCM3GGa1, contained only greenhouse gas forcing, and again output from the 2080–2099 time slice was roughly equivalent to a 3×CO2 scenario.The identical 21-year time periods from the CCC GCM could not be reproduced exactly using the HadCM3 GCM results due to lack of availability of the daily climate variables needed for the full time period. More detail on these daily datasets and their use in the development of future fire weather and fuel moisture scenarios are described in detail in previous research (Logan et al.2004;Flanniganet al. 2005).Daily fuel moisture observations were calculated for each GCM grid cell across Canada from the daily GCM weather streams and the FWI System for each of the future scenarios.Outputs at the GCM grid cell level were not used directly in analysis but interpolated, using thin-plate cubic splines, to the centre of each ecoregion to avoid any bias from using an individual grid cell as representative of a specific point.?

Fire Management Implications

ccfm

The forecast impacts of climate change-driven future fire activity outlined in previous sections raises the question of whether current Canadian fire management programs will have the capability to both mitigate and adapt to future fire regimes.

Fire management agencies generally operate (and are budgeted) with a narrow margin between success and failure, and a trend towards more fire activity under a changing climate could mean more fires escaping an initial attack and growing larger (Stocks 1993). The resulting increase in area burned could be much greater than that expected when considering the corresponding increase in fire weather severity alone. There is also a likelihood that, given competing fiscal demands, governments would be challenged to provide Canadian fire management agencies with the budget increases required to maintain their current levels of effectiveness (Stocks 1993). In Ontario, simulation studies using the Ontario initial attack system (McAlpine and Hirsch 1998) showed that reducing the number of escaped fires from current levels would require a very large investment in additional resources, and that incremental increases in fire suppression resources result in diminishing gains in initial attack success. More recently, Wotton and Stocks (2006) used Ontario’s initial attack simulation system in combination with scenarios of expected fire occurrence and fire weather to show that a doubling of current resource levels would be required to meet a modest increase of 15% in fire load (which is based on number of fires and difficulty to control). Further, Podur and Wotton (2010) used GCM outputs along with fire growth and suppression simulation models to project a doubling of area burned by 2020 AD and an eightfold increase by 2100AD. These changes were driven by increases in fires escaping initial attack, with escaped fire frequency increasing by 34% by 2040 and 92% by the end of the 21st century. Finally, during early climate change negotiations around the Kyoto Protocol, there was discussion of using the carbon stored in Canada's vast forests to offset GHG emissions. However, subsequent studies showed clearly that increasing natural disturbance rates (and synergies between fire, insects and blowdown) under a changing climate could overwhelm attempts to influence the forest carbon balance through forest management (Kurz et al. 1995, 2008a, 2008b).

Funding for fire protection

sac-isc.gc.

Fire protection is an essential service that can mean the difference between life and death. Fire protection services include:

● firefighting

● operating and maintaining fire halls

● purchasing fire trucks, firefighting tools and equipment

● training and educating firefighters and community members

First Nations band councils manage fire protection services on reserves. ISC provides funding to First Nations on an annual basis that can be used for fire protection services as well as fire insurance. The level of funding is determined by regionally based formulas which take into consideration a number of factors such as:

● the number of buildings on a reserve

● remoteness

● population

First Nations band councils can use these funds to run their own fire departments or to contract fire protection services from nearby communities. If a First Nation decides to contract with a nearby community, it is the responsibility of the First Nation to manage that agreement. First Nations that contract with local municipalities may also have access to 9-1-1 services.

First Nations may choose to use fire protection funding on other priorities. The amount of funding each First Nation plans to spend on fire protection is outlined in its annual First Nations Infrastructure Investment Plans and Report .

Between 2016 to 2022, ISC provided an average of $43.9 million annually for fire protection. This included annual averages of:

● $11 million for capital investments, for example, fire trucks, fire halls, etc.

● $15 million for operations and maintenance of assets

● $5 million for firefighter training

● $12.9 million in targeted funding from Budgets 2013, 2016 and 2017 and the Canada Community-Building Fund

ISC also provides funding each year to the National Indigenous Fire and Safety Council to organize a number of awareness and training events, including the National Firefighting Competition .

Hundreds of firefighters from across the world have flown to Canada to aid a nation stretched thin with a spring fire season that has shattered records on both sides of the country, with warmer and drier months still to come.

Wildfires are a natural phenomenon of the forest, creating new growth and culling debris. But experts caution that human changes to the landscape have invited larger and more destructive fires.

“Our resource-dependent communities are on the brink of being wiped out , physically and economically and culturally. We just can’t seem to collectively do what’s necessary,” said Robert Gray, a fire ecologist in British Columbia. “We know what to do. We’re just not doing it. And there are things we could have done in recent years to lessen what we’ve seen over the last few weeks. ”

Wildland fire risk research in Canada

Defining wildland fire risk ?

Historically, wildland fire risk was simply defined as fire occurrence; it was determined by the number of fires, with no reference to the potential impacts of those fires (Simard 1977 ; FAO 1986 ; Merrill and Alexander 1987 ; Hardy 2005 ). In contrast, the traditional risk definition used in natural hazards research sets risk as the expectation of loss or benefit and includes both probability of occurrence and potential impacts of the natural hazard (i.e., risk = likelihood × impacts; ISO 2009 ; UNISDR 2017 ). Within Canadian fire management agencies, this definition is partly applied when discussing “values at risk”, which refers to values with a high probability of being affected (Calkin et al. 2011 ). In recent years, this natural hazards actuarial definition of risk has become conventional within quantitative fire risk frameworks .

Despite the latter definition of risk becoming more common within wildland fire research, a multitude of definitions of fire risk persist in the literature. To illustrate this, we examined the existing literature on risk in wildland fire research, and we found that only 21% of papers used the technical natural hazards definition of risk. Often, a measurable parameter such as burn probability or fire danger are used to represent risk, but there is little standardisation, resulting in a frustrating variety of parameters used when referencing wildland fire risk (Fig. 3 , Table A1 ). Reference to fire risk can also consist of a very general statement with no clear definition. For example, many articles discuss “being at risk from wildland fire” without further explanation, which has little functional meaning when used in this general way.

Fig. shows Analysis of fire risk definitions used in wildland fire research literature. To compile this data, we analysed global references to risk in 175 conference papers, journal articles, and agency reports with search terms “wildfire” (or “forest fire”, “wildland fire”, or “bushfire”) and “risk” using Google Scholar, Web of Science, and Science Direct; search was performed in November 2018. This was not an exhaustive or systematic review, but a sampling of what definitions could be encountered in the literature. Only 21% of papers used the technical natural hazards definition of risk, and 79% of papers were focused on one or more other parameters representing risk, or referred to risk in general terms with no definition or quantification.

Forest fire management during Canada forest fires season 2023

(CNN)?—?Raging wildfires in Canada have already scorched about 15 times the normal burned area for this time of the year: nearly 11 million acres — more than double the size of New Jersey — with more than 2 million acres concentrated in Quebec alone.

Canada’s fire season is only just beginning, and officials there warned this week it would continue to be severe through the summer. If it follows the pattern of a normal year, it will peak in the hotter months of July and August.

In 2005, the federal government and provinces developed the Canadian Wildland Fire Strategy. At the time, they suggested C$2.32bn (US$1.74bn) was needed to better address wildfire risk. But, after 10 years , only C$1.47bn was spent.

Resources??

Fire-management NRCAN

Fire Management Strategy ontario

Forest Fire and Climate Change climateatlas

Wildfires: Information & Facts - redcross

Climate Change and Public Health Factsheets - canada.ca

Fire Disasters in Canada - thecanadianencyclopedia

Canadian National Fire Database ?cwfis.cfs.nrcan.gc.ca

Fifty years of wildland fire science in Canada cdnsciencepub

Enhancing Canada's ability to manage wildfires - asc-csa .

Cost of wildland fire protection - nrcan

Western Canada's new wildfire reality needs a new approach to fire management - iopscience

Health impact analysis - sciencedirect

Scientists’ warning on wildfire - a Canadian perspective - ResearchPress

Wildfires and insurance - iclr

Wildfire graphs- ciffc

health effects can be caused by forest Fire smoke - lung.ca

A Burning Problem: Wildfires in Canada - blog.cwf

Sciencedirect - Research Paper

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News and Reports??

Fire Disasters in Canada - thecanadianencyclopedia

Record of village burned in wildfire - BBC

Canadian village destroyed by wildfire - theguardian

New evacuation orders issued - reuters

Canada’s wildfires in numbers and graphics over the decades - globalnews

National Wildland Fire Situation Report - ?cwfis

poor air quality - globalnews

Canadian province declares emergency - theguardian

Wildfire Season Fluctuated Wildly - cbc

State of Emergency Due to Forest Fires - gov.nl.ca

donation-matching program to support Canadians impacted by Hurricane Fiona - canada.ca

Canada’s wildfires could cost billions - globalnews

Canada's wildfire season is off to an 'unprecedented' start. Here's what it could mean for the US | CNN ?

Exhausted crews battle Canadian wildfires as experts issue climate warning

Bodies & Organizations

Canadian Wildland Fire Information System - cwfis

Natural Resources Canada - nrcan.gc.ca

The ministry in Ontario - ontario.ca

Interactive charts and maps globalforestwatch

Current Wildfire Activity - gov.bc.ca

scientific content from IOP Publishing - iopscience.iop.org

Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction - iclr

Insurance Bureau of Canada - ibc

wildfire operations research - fpinnovation

Canada’s National Forestry Database - nfdp

information about wildland fire weather and smoke - firesmoke

The Canadian Lung Association - lung.ca

This report is compiled by Chiara Quaresmini for ForestSAT AS For any missing references and links, or additional materials please comment or DM