In 2023, wildfires burned 18.5 million hectares of land in Canada - three times the size of Nova Scotia. Two hundred thousand people were evacuated and the damages from insurable losses cost over $3 billion dollars. With 60 per cent of Canadian communities being located near wildfire-prone areas, we can expect to face even more challenges in the future.
The risk of wildfire is increasing due to more residential and industrial development into forested and grassland areas, and due to accumulated vegetation from over one hundred years of fire suppression. Furthermore, climate change has increased the length of the annual fire season and created conditions for larger, hotter and faster-moving fires.
The economic, social and health impacts of the wildfires are far-reaching. Commercial activity and tourism decrease due to evacuations and structural damage. Businesses are forced to reduce operations and workers lose time at work. Loss of housing and disruptions to essential services such as electricity, drinking water, and communications put severe social stress on communities. Anxiety disorder and post-traumatic disorder are more common in those affected by wildfire damage and mental health issues can persist for many years after the event.
It is natural to feel helpless in the face of wildfire threat, but the reality is that there are many aspects we can control, both individually and collectively. As a society, we can make large-scale investments to ensure that our homes, businesses and communities can resist the destruction of wildfires.
Businesses, landlords and homeowners can reduce the risk of their buildings catching fire by up to 75 per cent through individual actions. Most structures at the edge of communities are not destroyed by direct contact with the fire, but by embers or burning fragments of vegetation showering on homes up to two kilometers ahead of the leading fire edge.
Relying on firebreaks and reduction of vegetation that can burn around communities is important to reduce direct contact with wildfire but is certainly not enough to protect homes from igniting due to embers. A study of the 2016 Fort McMurray fire found that low risk vegetation in the immediate area surrounding homes was the single most important factor in differentiating homes that survived from those that burnt, followed by uncluttered yards with few combustible objects and the use of firesafe building materials. These findings are consistent with the FireSmart guidelines for landscaping and building.
FireSmart is a national program designed to increase wildfire resilience of communities and it outlines several scientifically proven actions that can be taken to protect businesses, homes and neighbourhoods. FireSmart guidelines include avoiding planting shrubs and plants within 1.5m of buildings, removal of coniferous trees within 10 meters of buildings and relocating firewood and lumber stored within 10m of the house and under decks. The guidelines also recommend the use of fire-resistant roofing materials such as asphalt, metal or concrete; non-combustible siding (stucco, metal or fibre cement), and non-combustible materials for decks and porches. Following FireSmart guidelines reduces the chances of homes catching fire and helps firefighters defend structures if they do ignite.
But individual efforts can only go so far in preventing wildfire damage given what we know about how fire progresses.
-Vamini Selvanandan is a family physician and public health practitioner in Alberta. For more articles like this, visit www.engagedcitizen.ca
