Dry conditions, lightning contributed to Alberta's record-breaking 2023 wildfire season: study
CBC
Wildfires in Alberta last summer burned more area than any previous fire season and a new study shows hot, dry conditions and an unusual amount of fires started by lightning were major contributing factors.
These findings come from a new study of the 2023 Alberta wildfires, published in the Canadian Journal of Forest Research.
Jen Beverly, a professor at the University of Alberta and one of the study's authors, says "it's not unusual in Alberta to have a fire season where you have 700, [or] 800,000 hectares burned. Last year it was closer to two million."
She says the fires themselves weren't unusual, but there were more big fires than in a regular fire season. In 2023, there were 36 wildfires that covered 100 square kilometres or more in size.
Last year's fire season started fierce and many fires in May were caused by lightning. These fires were ignited in dry conditions, before the trees and shrubs in the province's forests had a chance to fully green up.
Typically, Beverly said, the province gets about one big lightning fire in May per decade. Last year, there were 13.
"This was a really unusual change in the cause of fires, because normally in the spring, we're worried about people starting fires," she said.
Beverly said the conditions last spring were dry and crispy.
"People are really good at starting fires under those conditions," she said.
"Lightning is even better."
Josee St-Onge with Alberta Wildfire says the study's findings reflect what she has heard from firefighters.
"We saw a lightning storm in late April that went through the province and ignited multiple wildfires at the same time throughout the province of Alberta, and that set the tone for the rest of the season," she said.
St-Onge said they "were constantly reacting to new wildfires as opposed to being able to make good progress periodically."
Beverly said fire suppression resources were quickly exhausted in May 2023 because of the number of lightning fires.
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