GFMC: Forest Fires in Canada, 28 July 2000

over the last 24 hours:	87 fires for 3,785 ha
season summary:	3,320 fires for 231,406 hectares

According to the National Forest Fire Situation Report of 19 July 2000 (updated every Friday), that the area burned is 11% of normal, due to continuing wet weather in much of the country. High fire risk is in British Columbia and the northwest, with warmer and drier weather over much of the country expected to increase risk in all regions.

current	uncontrolled	controlled	active modified
current	2	90	96
	2000 (to date)	10-year average	in % of normal	Prescribed burning
Number	2,808	4,907	57%	40
Area (ha)	148,964	1,365,929	11%	7,863

The Fire Monitoring, Mapping, and Modelling (FireM3) is a collaboration of the Canadian Forest Service and the Canada Centre for Remote Sensing. Through the Map Link at the FireM3 web site you can access daily hotspot images. An Internet Map Server, which is like a simple GIS running on the host computer, allows you to zoom in on any fire or other area of interest and view the image and map data at full (1 km) resolution. You can also click on any fire and get information about that fire.

Satellite image, daily fire overview map and season-to-date hotspot map for 26 July 2000
(Source: FireM3)

The satellite image is showing hotspots from fires in Newfoundland from 26 July 2000.
(Source: FireM3)

The Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index (FWI) System is a part of the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System and consists of six components that account for the effects of fuel moisture and wind on fire behavior. The first three components are fuel moisture codes and are numerical ratings of the moisture content of litter and other fine fuels, the average moisture contentof loosely compacted organic layers of moderate depth, and the average moisture content of deep, compact organic layers. The remaining three components are fire behavior indexes which represent the rate of fire spread, the fuel available for combustion, and the frontal fire intensity; their values rise as the fire danger increases. For futher information please see the Summary Information.

Fine Fuel Moisture Code	Duff Moisture Code	Drought Code
Initial Spread Index	Buildup Index	Fire Weather Index
	Fire Danger Rating

The Canadian Forest Fire Behavior Prediction (FBP) System is an other part of the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System and provides quantitative estimates of head fire spread rate, fuel consumption, fire intensity, and fire description. With the aid of an elliptical fire growth model, it gives estimates of fire area, perimeter, perimeter growth rate, and flank and back fire behavior. For futher information please see the Summary Information.

Foliar Moisture Content	Surface Fuel Consumption	Rate of Spread
Total Fuel Consumption	Head Fire Intensity	Fire Type

The Saskatchewan Daily Forest Fire Situation Report (27 July 2000) is listing all forest fires currently burning in Saskatchewan and their current status. This report also gives statistics on the total number of fires to date. The whole report and further information can be accessed at the fire management website of "Saskatchewan Environment and Resource Management" (SERM).

fires burning in the province today:	16
extinguished in the past 24 hours:	1
new fires:	1
total number of fires to date this year:	328
total up to this date last year:	555
five year average for this date:	546

British Columbia Forest Service Wildfire Report (27 July 2000):
Officials are cautiously optimistic about U.S. blaze
Senior B.C. forestry officials finished their risk assessment today of the 3,800-hectare Rocky Hull wildfire burning southeast of Oroville, Washington. The wildfire, burning since Saturday, is estimated to be within 10 kilometres of the border. There are over 1,000 U.S. firefighters battling the blaze, and agreements are in place to allow further assistance from the B.C. Forest Service, which provided air tanker support earlier this week. With warm temperatures and dry conditions, this fire continues to be active. However, forestry officials are cautiously optimistic that the fire will be fully contained before becoming a threat to B.C. Fire officials in the Kamloops Fire Centre have developed a good working relationship with their counterparts in Washington State and have continued regular cross-border meetings. A strategy and contingency plans are in place, and the Forest Service will continue to monitor this fire closely. The southern Okanagan is an area where there is continual concern about the risk of wildfire threat to populated areas. The fire danger rating continues to be high in this area.

Number of Fires Burning:	137
Number of New Fires (Lightning):	13
Number of New Fires (Human Caused):	5
Total Lightning Fires:	299
Total Human Caused Fires:	392
Total Fires to Date:	691
Total Area Burned (ha):	12,535