What if? Whar when?
Whatever the reason wildfire season seems to be unprecedentedly worse this year and its only May. The Fort McMurray fire is already the biggest fire related disaster in Canadian history.
The article that I’m going to write now will raise some uncomfortable issues that folks might want to think about taking up the ball and running with. I don’t think this is a time for dithering and going ostrich.
As I understand it the Fort McMurray fire was first discovered by crews around 4 p.m. on Sunday, May 1. At two hectares or so it might have been manageable. However, as I understand so far conditions and weather quickly turned the blaze, which was pretty close to the city, from two to 60 hectares and by 10 p.m the Municipality of Wood Buffalo was declaring a local state of emergency and starts issuing mandatory evacuation orders.
As I write the fire is still burning out of control having consumed over 250,000 hectares of land. The heroics of first responders and people have been well documented and it’s a testimony to many of them that there have been so far, no direct deaths as a result of this fire.
I haven’t seen or heard yet as to how the fire started but given its proximity to the city and the historical statistics making human caused fires greater than nature I’m leaning towards humans as the cause. I really hope that it was accident and not arson.
Now for some hard premises and questions. The city of Fort McMurray has been evacuated and I gather that maybe 15 to 20 per cent of it, around 2,500 buildings are destroyed. Many people left with just their shirts on their backs.
I recall evacuation incidents before and once things started to normalise and the media had moved on to the next big thing there were questions asked about homes being entered by authorities, such as the RCMP, and firearms removed, presumably pets too. I have read that 100 properties have been forcibly entered and also police have gone on record as to not doing it this time. I guess when folks return we know.
The insurance bill claim has been estimated at $9 billion. I would expect this to rise. I would also expect insurance premiums for everyone else to rise too.
I am also expecting that some folks may not have insurance at all and some may find their insurance companies are better at taking premiums than paying claims. I think that if we have to live with an increasing threat of wildfire then building codes need to be tossed away and start again. Brick, stone and tiles do not burn, pure and simple. I’ve seen countless videos of homes going up in minutes in a wildfire. I really think that a brick and stone city would not have burned anything like so quickly. Which thinking as an insurance company for a moment would lead to me charge less of a premium for a brick and stone building compared to a traditional timber one.
Taking that thought further given the destruction in Fort McMurray an insurance company may not want to insure a traditional timber building at all and a not insurable building is not mortgageable and if a property is not mortgageable is not sellable. That ethos would pretty much destroy the property market overnight. Who is going to figure out that one? Having lived in rural areas myself I know that being 15 minutes from a fire hall made all the difference to my policy. Given what we know now. I don’t think living next door to a fire hall in a city would make much difference when a monster fire comes to call.
When the call for help went out Canadians responded magnificently. Nothing was too much trouble and money poured in to be matched by the government. Let’s look at that for a moment. I’ve spoken to charities over the years and unless they specifically ask for it, stuff such as clothes, furniture, and other goods cause more of a problem than they solve. Stuff has to be sorted, inventoried, stored and distributed and sadly that treasure that you thought might help an evacuee probably went to the landfill.
Money that’s the ticket. Yes, it is. However, I have read and not for the first time that cash donated for a particular event or disaster doesn’t always end being used in the way the donator envisaged. That is to something or someone entirely different. This is not right. Here government right down to municipalities could set up accounts ahead of a disaster to be labeled and administered for specific events. If someone donates to a cause they should expect all of that money to be used for that cause. And, if there is money left over perhaps it could go to a community project or something like that.
Our municipalities, town and county are rightly getting their heads together and planning for the worst. Honestly, anything like Fort McMurray right now in my opinion is a get out of Dodge scenario. If a city’s crews can’t cope how can we expect town and county volunteers to? What I don’t like seeing is excuses for not doing anything. Fire Smart does not cut it. It is possible to create firebreaks around towns, cities and hamlets. It needs a will. Then a way. Crown and public land to start then private land to follow. Work with the landowner, compensate the landowner then if push comes to shove its tough love with compensation. Do it. Do it now.
There will be some that will say what are the odds of a disastrous wildfire happening here? Do you feel lucky?