Written by: Deeba Chaudhry
Source: Calgary Ahmadiyya Muslims Examiner
Wildfires are a natural hazard in any forest and grassland region in a country like Canada. These disastrous wildfires are very common in Canada. The regions with the highest wildfire occurrence are the Boreal forest zones of Ontario, British Columbia, the Prairie provinces, Quebec, Northwest Territories, the Yukon and especially the Slave Lake, Alberta. The most common causes of wildfires varies throughout the world. In Canada, lightning is the major source of ignition which is 81% of all fires. But some 55% wildfires are caused by careless campers who did not extinguish their campfire or by walkers who threw their cigarettes in the woods. Wildfires move forward rapidly, even more if winds blow and the weather is dry. In fact, leaves and trees trunks on the ground are burnt to ashes by wildfires. These ashes are full of minerals and help the growth of new trees. By burning trees wildfire make “gaps” in the forest (called clearings). These clearings allow the sun to heat the ground up and help trees seeds to grow. As per Canadian statistics, nearly 9,000 wildfires occur and average area burned 2.5 million ha/year across the country.
The wildfire season stretches from April to October. In Quebec, there is an average of 794 wildfires every year. In Canada, a wildfire front is the portion sustaining continuous flaming combustion, where unburned material meets active flames, or the smoldering transition between unburned and burned material. As the front approaches, the fire heats both the surrounding air and woody material through convection and thermal radiation. First, wood is dried as water is vaporized at a temperature of 100 degree centigrade (212 F). Next, the pyrolysis of wood at 230 C (450 F) releases flammable gases. Finally, wood can smoulder at 380 C (720 F) or, when heated sufficiently, ignite at 590 C (1,000 F). Even before the flames of a wildfire arrive at a particular location, heat transfer from the wildfire front warms the air to 800 C (1,470 F), which pre-heats and dries flammable materials, causing materials to ignite faster and allowing the fire to spread faster. High temperature and long duration surface wildfires may encourage flashover or torching: the drying of tree canopies and their subsequent ignition from below. Wildfires have rapid forward rate of spread (FROS) when burning through dense, uninterrupted fuels. They can move as fast as 10.08 Kilometres per hour in forests and 22 Kilometres per hour in grasslands.
Overall, fire types can be generally characterized by their fuels. Ground fires are fed by subterranean roots, duff and other buried organic matter. This fuel type is especially susceptible to ignition due to spotting. Firstly, Ground fires typically burn by smoldering, and can burn slowly for days to months. Such as peat fires, in Kalimantan and Eastern Sumatra, Indonesia. Secondly, Crawling or surface fires are fuelled by low-lying vegetation such as leaf and timber litter, debris, grass, and low-lying shrubbery. Thirdly, Ladder fires consumes material between low-level vegetation and tree canopies, such as small trees, downed logs, and vines. Finally, Crown, canopy, or aerial fires burn suspended material at the canopy level, such as tall trees, wines and mosses.
On May 15, 2011, fast moving wildfire caused devastation in the northern Alberta community of Slave Lake. The damage was catastrophic. Hundreds of home, churches and business were destroyed. The power was out and about 7000 people were forced to evacuate their homes on 20 minute notice. Southern eastern part of the town had the biggest damage where over half the homes were consumed by wildfire flames. The Wildfire disaster prompted an outpouring of support from across the province, and across Canada. The disaster relief agencies in Edmonton, the Canadian Red Cross and Humanity First International Canada were inundated with donations. On May 28th, 2011 Humanity First Edmonton Chapterin coordination with Emergency Relief Services Edmonton and Slave Lake Community Services offered to provide manpower resources for the sorting, packing and cleanup efforts. The organization volunteers divided into two groups and went from door to door offering help and assisted in the cleanup and rehabilitation. Manpower sources were provided by Humanity First Khuddamul Ahmadiyya Edmonton and they helped sort the goods received as donation.
HUMANITY FIRST is a charitable organisation working under the fold of Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at. Humanity First was founded by Hadhrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad (rah) Khalifatul Masih IV in 1994. It was conceived with the back drop of hunger crises in Somalia in 1992 and the war in Bosnia. This was the time when the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at tried to help the victims of these crises, but faced difficulties in serving them directly because of being a religious organization. An independent charitable organization was established to serve mankind, without any distinction of faith, race or ethnicity or political allegiance. Today, Humanity First works with vulnerable communities in over 40 countries, spanning 6 continents, and is registered in 33 countries. The Organization has been working on human development projects and responding to disasters since 1995. These have included the earthquakes in Turkey, Pakistan, Japan and Iran, floods in Africa and Latin America, storms and tsunamis in the USA, Indonesia and Bangladesh, and Conflicts in Eastern Europe and Wildfire in Canada. Humanity First cites efficiencies through the extensive use of volunteers, partnerships and global sourcing resulting in over 93% of funds going straight to projects, and the actual aid value (including free man-hours of doctors, engineers etc) delivered is significantly (often 50 times) greater than the value of donations received. Ahmadi Youth have been at the forefront in giving blood donations in many countries of the world like Canada, Nigeria, Indonesia, and Pakistan. In two decades, Humanity First has grown into a multi-national aid agency and non profit charitable organization, regularly working alongside many other agencies such as the Red Cross, Oxfam, Save the Children and others. The Organization has access to thousands of volunteers across the globe. Humanity First also now has Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.
Although often harmful and destructive to humans, naturally occurring wildfires play an integral role in nature. They return nutrients to the soil by burning dead or decaying matter. They also act as a disinfectant, removing disease-ridden plants and harmful insects from a forest ecosystem. And by burning through thick canopies and brushy undergrowth, wildfires allow sunlight to reach the forest floor, enabling a new generation of seedlings to grow.
AHMADIYYA MUSLIM TIMES 