GFMC: Forest Fires in Canada, 21 September 2000
21 September 2000
The Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC) distributes information about forest fires in Canada.
The current fire situation for 20 September 2000 can be summarized as follows (for detailed information see the Canadian Daily Fire Situation Report):
season summary: 5,051 fires for 632,396 hectares
This year, CIFFC has mobilized to the United States over 1300 Canadian personnel, 300 MK 3 pump kits, 625 sprinkler heads and various equipment. All Canadian personnel have completed their various assignment in the USA and have returned to their home bases. This has been the largest Canadian mobilization into the USA in recorded history.
Last National Forest Fire Situation Report from the 6 September 2000)
The fire season in Canada has lasted slightly longer than usual, despite the relatively small area burned. Over the past week, Newfoundland and the Northwest Territories have experienced significant area burned, while BC has brought a large umber of small fires under control. The large fires in the United States continue to burn, although most of the fires in the northwest are now under control thanks to rain over the past week. These fires are not expected to be extinguished for another week or two at least, and may continue to burn until the first snowfall. Resource requirements for these fires remain high, but are declining.
current uncontrolled controlled active modified 1 60 55 2000
(to date) 10-year
average in %
of normal Prescribed
burning Number 5,023 7,681 65% 41 Area (ha) 627,202 2,408,562 26% 7,881
Fire Monitoring, Mapping, and Modelling (FireM3)
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.
The satellite image, the daily fire overview map and the season-to-date
hotspot map for 19 September 2000 display the current significant fire events
(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.
The latest available images are shown below (20 September 2000):
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.
The latest available images are shown below (20 September 2000):
Foliar Moisture Content 
Surface Fuel Consumption 
Rate of Spread 
Total Fuel Consumption 
Head Fire Intensity 
Fire Type
