[News] Canadian wildfires

[jcdenton08]

Jasper wildfires: 'Monster' wildfire devastates historic Canadian resort town

Up to half of the tourist town of Jasper may have been destroyed, with its mayor saying the area is facing its "worst nightmare".

www.bbc.co.uk

25,000 evacuated, 30-50% of buildings estimated destroyed, much higher damaged. Thousands of square miles of forest and woodland incinerated. Will take weeks to bring the fires under control, and even longer to extinguish.

My other half is in Kamloops, BC (about four hours drive away) and on the night the fires started there was a massive and terrifying lightning storm. Only minor fires in Kamloops thankfully, but absolute tragedy happening in Jasper National Park.

She was having a full blown panic attack though as her childhood home in another turn further north previously burned down after a direct lightning strike.

Thoughts and prayers to anyone in the region or those with loved ones in the region.

 

[Zeberdi]

Jasper wildfires: 'Monster' wildfire devastates historic Canadian resort town

Up to half of the tourist town of Jasper may have been destroyed, with its mayor saying the area is facing its "worst nightmare".

www.bbc.co.uk

25,000 evacuated, 30-50% of buildings estimated destroyed, much higher damaged. Thousands of square miles of forest and woodland incinerated. Will take weeks to bring the fires under control, and even longer to extinguish.

My other half is in Kamloops, BC (about four hours drive away) and on the night the fires started there was a massive and terrifying lightning storm. Only minor fires in Kamloops thankfully, but absolute tragedy happening in Jasper National Park.

She was having a full blown panic attack though as her childhood home in another turn further north previously burned down after a direct lightning strike.

Thoughts and prayers to anyone in the region or those with loved ones in the region.

And while people are at it, also spare a thought for the hundreds of thousands of animals trapped and burned alive and birds (overcome by smoke/hatchlings) that have been killed - Beavers, coyotes, skunks, wolverines, foxes, bears, endangered Caribou—the Canadian boreal forest is home to 85 species of mammals, 130 of fish and 300 of birds, including many migratory birds. Fresh water lakes deoxygenated and contaminated by ash. It will take years for some species to return.

Climate change will only continue to increase the impact of forest fires - with longer and more severe fire seasons as a result of hotter, drier conditions. We are doing this to ourselves.

 

[CliveWalkerWingWizard]

Terrible news, I was there this time last year, an absolutely beautiful place with beautiful people. Unfortunately it will take decades to recover.

 

[jcdenton08]

Terrible news, I was there this time last year, an absolutely beautiful place with beautiful people. Unfortunately it will take decades to recover.

As was I, just awful. And where’s Trudeau? Vancouver Island, giving the usual platitudes and doing sod all.

 

[nordicgod]

Was only there a few weeks ago drove from Vancouver to Calgary via kamloops, Salmon arm, Revelstoke and Golden, then met Canadian friends who tools us to Banff and jasper and went out camping for a couple of nights in the national parks, fire risk was low so was allowed camp fires . Driving over the Rockies I said it’s was like the Lake District on steroids. Absolutely Terrible to see what has happened just a few weeks later though as the temperature got up the homes destroyed and the lost of wildlife . Nature is resilient and everywhere you go it’s sprouting up from last years terrible wildfires.

 

[jcdenton08]

After the tragedies in Lytton and other townships in previous years, this somehow hits a bit harder. Jasper is one of the most beautiful areas in Canada, a massive tourism pull and a wonderful community. Just absolutely gutted.

 

[dazzer6666]

Spent over 3 weeks in Ontario and BC last year, absolutely love BC and Vancouver Island in particular. So sad to see this but after the last years would have thought they might have done more to try to prevent/limit this

 

[MJsGhost]

Was only there a few weeks ago drove from Vancouver to Calgary via kamloops, Salmon arm, Revelstoke and Golden, then met Canadian friends who tools us to Banff and jasper and went out camping for a couple of nights in the national parks, fire risk was low so was allowed camp fires . Driving over the Rockies I said it’s was like the Lake District on steroids. Absolutely Terrible to see what has happened just a few weeks later though as the temperature got up the homes destroyed and the lost of wildlife . Nature is resilient and everywhere you go it’s sprouting up from last years terrible wildfires .

I drove the other way - from Calgary to Vancouver but via Kelowna a few years ago. A stunning part of the world and this is so sad to see.

 

[jcdenton08]

Spent over 3 weeks in Ontario and BC last year, absolutely love BC and Vancouver Island in particular. So sad to see this but after the last years would have thought they might have done more to try to prevent/limit this

I’m not sure what more can be done, though. They use fire planes and fire retardant year round, but taking Jasper National Park alone there is 4,200 square miles of tinderbox dry forest just waiting for a spark. Trying to cover the 350 million hectares of forest in Canada in flame retardant is folly.

They’ve done loads in educating people about discarded cigarettes, bonfires, barbecue safety etc - but one massive lightning storm can set off hundreds of simultaneous wildfires which are quite literally impossible to control.

They’ve brought in hundreds of overseas firefighters, but tragedies like these are inevitable. The only relief being that there are no reported lost lives.

Every dot shown is a fire, every red dot is an out of control fire, and that screenshot only covers some of BC and a bit of Alberta. It’s insanity every year.

 

[BrightonCottager]

Canada is on the front line of climate changed -Wildfires and melting permafrost leading to subsidence and release of trapped methane (80× more potent than CO2).

It is also the second largest emitter of greenhouse gases per capita in the world, after Saudi Arabia and 11th by total volume.

 

[Goldstone Guy]

I’m not sure what more can be done, though. They use fire planes and fire retardant year round, but taking Jasper National Park alone there is 4,200 square miles of tinderbox dry forest just waiting for a spark. Trying to cover the 350 million hectares of forest in Canada in flame retardant is folly.

They’ve done loads in educating people about discarded cigarettes, bonfires, barbecue safety etc - but one massive lightning storm can set off hundreds of simultaneous wildfires which are quite literally impossible to control.

They’ve brought in hundreds of overseas firefighters, but tragedies like these are inevitable. The only relief being that there are no reported lost lives.

View attachment 186080

Every dot shown is a fire, every red dot is an out of control fire, and that screenshot only covers some of BC and a bit of Alberta. It’s insanity every year.

How about we stop burning fossil fuels?

 

[Miximate]

Very sad news, a beautiful town and area. Jnr living nearby working in the mountains.

 

[jcdenton08]

How about we stop burning fossil fuels?

Fantastic idea. Moving forward, how do we replace the 80% of energy needs that fossil fuels provide, in a timely and cost realistic way?

 

[heathgate]

Jasper wildfires: 'Monster' wildfire devastates historic Canadian resort town

Up to half of the tourist town of Jasper may have been destroyed, with its mayor saying the area is facing its "worst nightmare".

www.bbc.co.uk

25,000 evacuated, 30-50% of buildings estimated destroyed, much higher damaged. Thousands of square miles of forest and woodland incinerated. Will take weeks to bring the fires under control, and even longer to extinguish.

My other half is in Kamloops, BC (about four hours drive away) and on the night the fires started there was a massive and terrifying lightning storm. Only minor fires in Kamloops thankfully, but absolute tragedy happening in Jasper National Park.

She was having a full blown panic attack though as her childhood home in another turn further north previously burned down after a direct lightning strike.

Thoughts and prayers to anyone in the region or those with loved ones in the region.

We were due to be just finishing a month touring around in Canada, including Jasper, Kamloops and Banff.... we had to cancel due to a family bereavement situation and rebook for next July....my missus was fretting a bit about the wildfires in BC in particular...hopefully next year we will escape any calamity.

 

[Coalburner]

Was only there a few weeks ago drove from Vancouver to Calgary via kamloops, Salmon arm, Revelstoke and Golden, then met Canadian friends who tools us to Banff and jasper and went out camping for a couple of nights in the national parks, fire risk was low so was allowed camp fires . Driving over the Rockies I said it’s was like the Lake District on steroids. Absolutely Terrible to see what has happened just a few weeks later though as the temperature got up the homes destroyed and the lost of wildlife . Nature is resilient and everywhere you go it’s sprouting up from last years terrible wildfires .

Did a similar drive a few years ago. Spectacular landscapes So glad we saw it then as will doubtless be years before it gets back to anything resembling what it was. Very sad to hear this latest news

 

[raymondo]

Fantastic idea. Moving forward, how do we replace the 80% of energy needs that fossil fuels provide, in a timely and cost realistic way?

If the planet wants to save itself then it needs to accept:
- a thumping reduction in production and consumption
- a thumping drop in living standards
- a thumping change in employment
- a thumping reduction in heating and aircon use
....(I dunno, something like that)
But most people won't, most "leaders" won't, so at some point, the planet is fycked.

 

[jcdenton08]

If the planet wants to save itself then it needs to accept:
- a thumping reduction in production and consumption
- a thumping drop in living standards
- a thumping change in employment
- a thumping reduction in heating and aircon use
....(I dunno, something like that)
But most people won't, most "leaders" won't, so at some point, the planet is fycked.

Agree, perhaps swap “planet” for “humanity”

 

[raymondo]

Agree, perhaps swap “planet” for “humanity”

Yeah, agreed .
I mean...humanity will survive in some form, especially in some regions, and for a long time yet...but wouldn't it be great if we planned and actioned our way out of the worst of the threat rather than continuing to race headlong into it .

 

[jcdenton08]

Yeah, agreed .
I mean...humanity will survive in some form, especially in some regions, and for a long time yet...but wouldn't it be great if we planned and actioned our way out of the worst of the threat rather than continuing to race headlong into it .

It absolutely would. I think my point was more that I’d rather not score political points over what is a tragic situation for many people about climate change - a cause I am fully behind and have taken actual demonstrable change about.

Canadian wildfires have been a thing since recorded settlement, and even further back in First Nations peoples writings. Millions of acres have burnt since records began in 1825 - to solely blame climate change is not only misleading, it’s downright incorrect.

That said, it is playing a part according to most scientists.

The issue was helpfully summarised by your bullet points, namely that simply replacing energy usage with green alternatives is simply not feasible in our lifetimes. Hard sacrifices would have to be made, and this is something that many people - even hardcore green energy campaigners - often fail to grasp.

Replacing like-for-like the 80% of energy produced by fossil fuels is not going to be possible in our lifetimes. Big sacrifices would have to be made, with a massive knock on to the worldwide economic stability through likely billions of job losses.

It would be a hard reset for humanity. No cars, no mass production - essentially a new dark age. Humanity will die out before that happened.

 

[raymondo]

It absolutely would. I think my point was more that I’d rather not score political points over what is a tragic situation for many people about climate change - a cause I am fully behind and have taken actual demonstrable change about.

Canadian wildfires have been a thing since recorded settlement, and even further back in First Nations peoples writings. Millions of acres have burnt since records began in 1825 - to solely blame climate change is not only misleading, it’s downright incorrect.

That said, it is playing a part according to most scientists.

The issue was helpfully summarised by your bullet points, namely that simply replacing energy usage with green alternatives is simply not feasible in our lifetimes. Hard sacrifices would have to be made, and this is something that many people - even hardcore green energy campaigners - often fail to grasp.

Replacing like-for-like the 80% of energy produced by fossil fuels is not going to be possible in our lifetimes. Big sacrifices would have to be made, with a massive knock on to the worldwide economic stability through likely billions of job losses.

It would be a hard reset for humanity. No cars, no mass production - essentially a new dark age. Humanity will die out before that happened.

Yes agreed.
As you say, wild fires have happened naturally on many continents for a very long time. Science suggests that their frequency and ferocity will increase with global warming, methane release etc (I know you know).
My brother lives in West Australia and they seem to use controlled burning well to prevent the worst excesses - then again their area of natural forest is tiny compared to Canada's.