As the severity of the 2001 fire season developed in late May, Land and Forest Service escalated man-up and aircraft expenditures significantly above normal levels in expectation of increased fire...
Description
As the severity of the 2001 fire season developed in late May, Land and Forest Service escalated man-up and aircraft expenditures significantly above normal levels in expectation of increased fire load. Prior to fire activity in the Protection Zone of Alberta, municipalities in the agricultural areas were experiencing extreme fire behaviour and property losses. This is the context for Alberta’s latest record fire event – the Chisholm fire (LWF-063), which was man-caused, igniting on May 23, 2001. It is notable that the fire intensity for the Chisholm fire replaces the previous record calculation of the 1968 Vega fire, which ran parallel to the Chisholm fire. Both fires started the same day of the same month 33 years apart; both were driven by a low-level jet wind; and both fires ended their run just south of the Town of Slave Lake as a result of a major weather change.