Fires in Canada
For all my Canadian friends:
Be safe.
In my prayers.
Grey Mountain
Be safe.
In my prayers.
Grey Mountain
Forum Discussion
20 Replies
- News reports are indicating that 2,400 structures burned in Fort McMurray and almost 25,000 were saved. There are still hotspots, and residents still can't return.
The fire has moved towards Saskatchewan. Trackrig wrote:
I don't believe the Canadians have asked for the retardant bombers based in the states which I find strange. I have an uncle who flies retardant jets and they're just sitting in Montana or Wyoming on the ground twiddling their thumbs. I'd have though the Canadians would have at least brought them in to stop the fires at the edge of the housing or along the highway to make evacuations easier.
Bill
They have their own, including the largest amphibian bombers- Check online at www.cbc.ca/news for updates and evaluations of what survived.
The immediate report today is that media are being given a tour.
& Alberta's Premier Grace Notley has been giving regular reports on many of these issues.
Also, check on the Slave Lake Fire of 2011 https://www.google.ca/#q=slave+lake+fire+2011 gives several articles. Bad as that fire was it was small and slow compared to this one.
For scope, remember this fire jumped a 1 kilometer wide river.
:C trailerbikecamper wrote:
...the water treatment plant is still in place but has shutdown due to the evacuations
Yes. It appears now that the river water intake was not destroyed, and thank goodness for that.
It is an unknown for all facilities still standing (every facility has to be thoroughly checked, building by building even if fire hadn't apparently "touched" the buildings, by various engineering disciplines, to verify their fitness to operate (is the hospital HVAC still functioning? Are there burning embers still on the roofs? And many other issues)
The problem with "turning on the water soon" is: the hundreds of burned structures could free-flow water from broken pipes, unimpeded. The various neighborhoods have to be checked (house by house) and mains shut off till the main water pipes coming into all the affected homes and businesses are capped. I imagine that this would have to be done sector by sector. However, there may be shut offs for blocks of affected buildings/houses.- There has been a fleet of 27 planes and 15 helicopters dropping both fire retardant and water since the beginning. The Russians have also offered aircraft to battle the blazes.
The issue is a need to avoid too many aircraft flying within a specific area that could be an added danger. In particular an aircraft flying low with another above dropping retardant/water.
It's not as simple as throwing more aircraft at the fires.
... Eric - I don't believe the Canadians have asked for the retardant bombers based in the states which I find strange. I have an uncle who flies retardant jets and they're just sitting in Montana or Wyoming on the ground twiddling their thumbs. I'd have though the Canadians would have at least brought them in to stop the fires at the edge of the housing or along the highway to make evacuations easier.
Bill silversand wrote:
This is truly a a catastrophe on a human and environmental scale only approaching the level of a direct hit by a hurricane; the difference is that almost the entire city has been destroyed, along with the electric infrastructure, and natural gas feeds to all the houses, businesses, hospital, schools and government offices.
Imagine if you will a city about the sized of Fort Collins, CO being nearly completely destroyed by a wildfire. And this thing is not even close to being over-- the wildfire(s) rage on; perhaps for weeks or months.
Quebec just sent over 4 water bombers, and a wildfire ground crew, however, I think a massive and much more comprehensive plan needs to be done (like an army of Canadian, and US firefighters and water bombers to be deployed). The problem seems to be that wildfires are springing up over BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and now, western Ontario. I have access to and monitor the VIIRS geostationary satellite several times a day, and I can' hardly comprehend how this (and other) wildfires are growing, by the hour. I think the damage is now up to 4, 5, or 7 $billion, and with the oil companies shutting down production, and the city destroyed, the unemployment situation is incomprehensible.silversand wrote:
This is not quite accurate. It is true that there has been lots of damage to some areas, but the major infrastructure is still there. The hospital has minor damage, the water treatment plant is still in place but has shutdown due to the evacuations. You are correct in saying gas to many homes needs to be addressed to prevent gas leaks and explosions. Some of the oil companies are considering re-starting today and flying employees from Edmonton and Calgary. This is possible, because there are airstrips north of the city, owned by oil companies.- This is the Fort McMurray Google Crisis Map, showing the neighborhoods that were destroyed by the fire (see the red polygons in the legend). The overlaid SkySat Terra Bella satellite image (Terra Bella is a Google subsidiary that shoots high-resolution video of Earth and do high resolution imagery from their space-based satellite). The SkySat imagery is very recent, and you can zoom in to your house to see if it is still existing: here-->
This isn't the absolute definitive authority on fire-affected areas, however it is as good as it get at this juncture. - I noticed in one of the pictures of airlift operatons that residents were allowed to take their pets with them on the planes. Evacuation of pets was not allowed when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans a few years back.
My wife and I agree - if me pets can't go, I'm not going either.
GM and Ms. GM. - Praying too.
