“#ymmfire” refers to the airport code for the Fort McMurray International Airport in Alberta. The entire population of the city, more than 80,000, was ordered to evacuate when it became obvious it was going to be overrun by the fire.
Below is an excerpt from a May 4, 2016 article at Slate about the weather in Canada:
…Canada’s northern forests have been burning more frequently over recent decades as temperatures there are rising at twice the rate of the global average. A 2013 analysis showed that the boreal forests of Alaska and northern Canada are now burning at a rate unseen in at least the past 10,000 years. The extreme weather of recent months is also closely linked with the ongoing record-setting El Niño conditions in the Pacific Ocean, which tends to bring a warmer and drier winter to this part of Canada. Last month, Canadian officials mentioned the possibility of “large fires” after over-winter snowpack was 60 to 85 percent below normal and drought conditions worsened.
This week, a strong atmospheric blocking pattern—a semi-stable extreme arrangement of the jet stream—reinforced an unseasonable heat wave and helped temperatures reach 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32.2 degrees Celsius) on Tuesday in Fort McMurray, 40 degrees Fahrenheit above normal, eight degrees above the daily record high, 15 degrees warmer than Houston, and the same temperature as Miami. While fleeing, some evacuees had to turn on their air conditioners…
A firefighter on the Tatanka Hotshots in South Dakota was admitted to a hospital hours after completing a long run on the crew’s first day of the 2016 fire season. The run began at 10 a.m. on May 2 and later in the day he complained of severe cramping. The diagnosis was Rhabdomyolysis, sometimes shortened to Rhabdo, and he remains hospitalized as of May 6 according to the “72-hour notification”. A Facilitated Learning Analysis (FLA) team will in-brief on May 9.
Complications from Rhabdo. Another firefighter’s left leg after 5 surgeries in 2011. Photo from the FLA.
Rhabdo is the breakdown of muscle fibers resulting in the release of muscle contents (myoglobin) into the bloodstream which are harmful to the kidneys and may lead to kidney failure.
Left untreated, or if not treated early enough, rhabdo can lead to irreversible muscle damage, permanent disability, kidney failure possibly requiring lifelong dialysis, and even death. Up to 8% of cases of rhabdomyolysis are fatal according to a NIOSH report. And all of this can be the result of exercising hard or engaging in a strenuous fire assignment if other risk factors are also present.
Smoke from the fires in Alberta, primarily the 210,000-acre blaze near Fort McMurray, is affecting Saskatchewan, Manitoba, the north-central United States, and many areas in the eastern U.S.
The map above was generated by NOAA at 12:20 p.m. MDT today. The light-colored areas represent the presence of wildfire smoke. The NOAA map below is from 3:45 a.m. MDT May 5.
The next map is from WeatherUnderground:
Smoke map May 6, 2016. Weatherunderground.
To see the most current smoke reports, visit the articles tagged “smoke” at https://wildfiretoday.com/tag/smoke/
He had volunteered as a firefighter for 40 years and served as his town’s fire warden for two decades.
Volunteer firefighter Steven Lapierre, 58, died Thursday of complications after suffering a heart attack while helping to suppress a brush fire in Georgia, Vermont on April 27.
He was a career firefighter having retired from the St. Albans City Fire Department in 2010.
Our sincere condolences go out to Mr. Lapierre’s family, friends, and the Georgia Volunteer Fire Department.
The National Interagency Fire Center reminded us about this poster:
Remember the 1986 Los Angeles Raiders? Here’s Marcus Allen, Howie Long, Rod Martin, Don Mosebar, Smokey Bear, Marc Wilson, Lester Hayes and Dokie Williams spreading the word to “Stop Arson Now!”
And below, Dieter Brock, Tony Hunter, Smokey Bear and Henry Ellard from the 1986 Los Angeles Rams say “The Best Defense Against Arson is a Strong Offense!”
The U.S. Geological Survey has determined that fireworks ruined the water.
Photo showing Mount Rushmore fireworks with burning embers hitting the ground. Photo: South Dakota Tourism
Between 1998 and 2009 the park Superintendents at Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota thought it would be cool to explode tons, yes, tons of fireworks over the top of the memorial around July 4. For those 12 years tens of thousands of dollars, much of it donated, and thousands of person hours were spent on this ridiculous display. Superintendents Dan Wenk and Gerard Butler promoted and encouraged the program that started numerous fires, rained down tons of debris, and now we’re finding out, poisoned the water with chemicals.
Some of the debris and trash at the launch site of the fireworks at Mount Rushmore. Screen shot from the video below.
The USGS discovered that the ground and surface water at Mount Rushmore is contaminated with percholrate, a component of rocket fuels and explosives. They determined that the chemical came from the fireworks over that 12-year period.
Data from the USGS report showed that a maximum perchlorate concentration of 54 micrograms per liter was measured in a stream sample, which is about 270 times higher than that in samples collected from sites outside the memorial. The Centers for Disease Control says high levels of perchlorates can affect the thyroid gland, which in turn can alter the function of many organs in the body. The fetus and young children can be especially susceptible.
The park provides drinking water to about 3 million visitors and personnel every year. Its superintendent, Cheryl Schreier, said Monday that the park will continue to strive to provide drinking water that “meets and exceeds current standards.”
But the USGS report says perchlorate in drinking water is not currently regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
As Fire Management Officer for Mount Rushmore and six other national parks in the greater Black Hills during five of those years when fireworks were exploded over the monument, it was my job to plan for suppression of the fires that started when burning embers hit the ground. We mobilized dozens of firefighters during the busy part of the fire season and had them positioned just outside the falling-debris zone. After the aerial explosions ended, we would move in, search at night in the steep rocky terrain, and extinguish the fires.
In one of the first years, there were over a dozen that were found. They were all put out when they were small, but it was an insane concept to shoot off tons of fireworks over a Ponderosa pine forest in July. The park is not just the stone carving; it has 1,200 acres of trees and other vegetation surrounded by the Black Hills National Forest. I made my opinion known, but it carried little weight compared to the GS-15 Superintendents and other government executives.
Aside from the impractical aspects of fires, cost, and ruining the water, the esthetics of the display were disrespectful and distasteful — explosions over the faces of Presidents Washington, Roosevelt, Jefferson, and Lincoln — raining down unexploded shells, wadding, ash, pieces of the devices, paper, and poisonous chemicals; stuff than can never be completely picked up in the rugged terrain. From certain angles, it looked like the rockets were coming out of the tops of the Presidents’ heads.
