These CBC articles are worth a look.
Jasper’s wildfire preparedness work put to the test as out-of-control fires threaten townsite
Parks Canada has been conducting prescribed burns since 2003
Excerpt:
For years, Parks Canada and the Municipality of Jasper have removed trees and branches, logged a firebreak, ignited controlled burns and asked residents to clear yard debris in hopes of protecting the forest-nestled town from a dangerous blaze.
Those mitigations may now be put to the test as out-of-control wildfires bear down on the Jasper townsite, according to wildfire experts.
Thousands of people were forced to flee the Jasper townsite and national park Monday night, as the threat of wildfire grew rapidly.
“A big part of these treatments is not necessarily to stop the fire cold in its tracks, but to slow the fire and keep the fire on the surface rather than spreading fire in the canopy,” said Jen Beverly, a University of Alberta associate professor of agricultural, life and environmental science who studies wildfires.
It remains to be seen if the fuels treatments had any effect….
And there’s another article today:
Blaze that damaged Jasper, Alta., townsite was too powerful to stop, fire experts say
Mike Flannigan, a wildfire expert and professor at Kamloops’ Thompson Rivers University, says a trifecta of weather, geography and fuels can determine the severity of a wildfire.
Jasper National Park has been in a prolonged drought, scientists said. The forest is dense, and full of dead, dry lodgepole pine trees destroyed by a mountain pine beetle infestation. Flannigan said that strong wind funnelled the fire and its detritus down the valley toward the townsite.
He said the blaze became so large, it created its own thunderstorm — a phenomenon that also drove the Horse River wildfire on its destructive path into Fort McMurray in 2016.
In these conditions, the airborne embers the fire is spewing out can travel a couple of kilometres, Flannigan said. It leaves natural firebreaks like rivers, lakes and roads futile to stop the spread.
“And when the fires are that intense, there’s not much you can do to stop it,” Flannigan said during CBC Radio’s live coverage of the emergency on Thursday morning.
…
The fire should renew a conversation about the work all forested Canadian communities could be doing to prevent nearby blazes from becoming so threatening, he said. Those mitigations include thinning the surrounding forest, removing dead wood, constructing buildings with less flammable materials and considering more controlled burns and traditional Indigenous fire practices.
To me, this is evidence that fuel reductions are a rather tenuous means of controlling wildfires. We are in a climate driven crisis, and are grasping at straws, while ignoring the true cause.
I don’t pretend to have an easy solution, but I don’t think that fuel reduction schemes is the remedy.
I do believe that there should be a massive investment in large fleets of firefighting aircraft, stationed in a handful of regional centers, that can be mobilized enmase. The money that we send to Israel in one year would be able to purchase hundreds of Sikorsky Skycranes. We would also be able to reduce the massive investment in ground crews and fire camps.
Western US residents are reaching a breaking point with severely diminished air quality lasting for months. I’m at a point where I’m wondering if relocating to the NE would be a wise move.
With almost 90% of wildfires being human caused, there should be widespread closures of USFS roads as conditions exceed MODERATE.
Glenn- I don’t think climate change can be the “true cause” since there were wildfires long before climate change.