Wildfires in Alberta have burned more land in 2019 than any year in the past four decades, according to data from Alberta Wildfire.
The blazes have burned an area larger than Banff National Park and displaced thousands of people across northern Alberta.
In light of the intense spring wildfires, the Alberta government wants to review its wildfire preparation and response.
According to a request for proposal, posted to the government’s tendering website on Thursday, the province also wants an external consultant to evaluate part of the Agriculture and Forestry Ministry’s wildfire management program.
Spring wildfires that burned between March and June consumed more than 800,000 hectares in Alberta — five times more than the five-year average.
The blazes forced roughly 15,000 people to evacuate more than 20 communities, according to the posting.
“The 2019 spring wildfires in Alberta had a severe impact on people, communities, forest industry, and forest habitat,” the posting reads.
Climate change creating intense wildfire season, expert says
Fires are a natural part of regenerating Alberta’s boreal forests, says Mike Flannigan, professor of wildland fire at the University of Alberta.
“But what we’re seeing with climate change is we’re seeing much more fire on the landscape,” Flannigan said.
“Our area burned in Canada has doubled since the 1970s and this is due to human-caused climate change. I can’t be any more clear than that.”
According to a recent federal report, Canada has warmed twice as fast as the rest of the world since 1948; in parts northern Alberta, where wildfires are concentrated, it is closer to three times as fast.
Flannigan says that warming impacts wildfires in three ways: the dry season is longer, there’s an increase in lightning (experts say every degree brings about 10 to 12 per cent more lightning) which ignites nearly half of all forest fires in Canada, and there’s less moisture in the atmosphere, which dries out forest vegetation.
Taken together, climate change has increased extreme fire risk in western Canada by 1.5 to six times in the past decade, according to a 2017 paper by researchers at the University of Victoria.
“Not every year is going to be a bad fire year, but with our changing climate we’re going to see more active fire seasons,” he said.
Most hectares burned since 1981
This wildfire season has already been the most active since 1981 when wildfires burned 1.3 million hectares.
As of Sunday, wildfires had burned 869,188 hectares of land this year — an area slightly larger than Banff National Park, which covers 664,100 hectares of land.
About half of the area burned this year has been around High Level where the Chuckegg Creek wildfire has consumed 350,000 hectares of land since it was discovered May 12.
Firefighters from across Canada, the U.S. and South Africa have descended on parts of northern Alberta to help battle wildfires.
The government tender for an external review was posted on Thursday, the same day as the Chuckegg Creek blaze was designated as “being held.” That means the fire is not anticipated to grow past expected boundaries, given current conditions.
Flannigan commended Alberta Forestry’s wildfire management, particularly around High Level. He says crews proactively burned fuel around the community to wildfire from spreading into town.
“Very well done by the province,” Flannigan said.
Alberta Agriculture and Forestry and the premier’s office did not immediately return CBC’s request for comment on Sunday.
The government’s request for proposal is set to close on August 20.