User:RettK/sandbox

Provincial Impact
All provinces in Canada were impacted by forest fires in the 2015 forest fire season with the provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan experiencing unprecedented numbers of wildfires and hectares burned. The province of Alberta had 306 wildfires early in the season, which was 100 wildfires above historic averages and was the first indicator of an early and above normal forest fire season. Higher than normal winter and early spring temperatures, in Alberta, as well as low precipitation averages across all the Western Canadian provinces was noted. The province of Saskatchewan experienced 292 wildfires above the 10-year average for the province with the fires caused by lightening accounting for 97% of the hectares burned.

Forest Fire Statistics for British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan, 2105

Health Impact
"Metro Vancouver issued an air quality advisory due to the extensive numbers of particulates and smoke in the air from the wildfires. Air quality advisories were issued in British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan. The advisories encouraged elderly, infants, individuals with chronic illness to all remain indoors and for healthy individuals to avoid outdoor strenuous activities to mitigate the risk of decreased respiratory function. There were two wildfire related fatalities identified nationally in 2015. In Alberta, a fatal crash of an air tanker used in wildfire suppression resulted in the tragic loss of the pilot. Tragically, one “on the ground” fatality occurred in British Columbia when a man was fatally injured while felling a danger tree."

Recovery
Effective wildfire management and containment resulted in minimal loss of value and property. All three provinces conducted reviews of the 2015 wildfire season. Alberta conducted a wildfire review which resulted in four recommendations and 18 opportunities of improvement in the areas of wildfire prevention, wildfire operations, financial functions and performance measures.