Fire Hazard Assessment Map for Canada Fire-HAM

Fire Hazard Assessment Map for Canada Fire-HAM

Fire-HAM To produce a fire hazard assessment map for Canada that indicates the areas which are susceptible or vulnerable to forest fire activity. Goal Objectives • Use latest knowledge to replace the 1973 Fire Weather Zone Map for Canada (Simard) • Build a map using the concepts of the Wildfire Threat Rating System (WTRS) • Incorporate fire occurrence, area burned, level of protection and social-economic impacts • Use GIS to display spatial patterns

Fire-HAM Objectives • Consider ALL Fires; since every fire requires a suppression response • Use EcoRegion for areas of analysis • Indicate the changing Fire Hazard Assessment over the last 20 years • Build a Small Fire Database (SFDB) for Canada

Province Abbrev. Years # Records File Yukon YK 1946 - 2001 5,922 YK_4601.csv Northwest Territories NWT 1965 - 2000 10,223 NWT_6500.csv British Columbia BC 1950 - 1960 18,416 BC_5060.csv BC 1961 - 1980 47,462 BC_6180.csv BC 1981 - 2000 48,354 BC_8100.csv Alberta AB 1961 - 2000 32,992 AB_6100.csv Saskatchewan SK 1981 - 2002 14,790 SK_8102.csv Manitoba MB 1968 - 1999 17,444 MB_6899.csv Ontario ON 1976 - 1999 41,100 ON_7699.csv Quebec PQ 1985 - 2000 14,935 PQ_8500.csv Wood Buffalo Nat. Park WBNP 1950 - 1999 1,335 WBNP_5099.csv Newfoundland * NF 1955 - 1999 * 367 NF_5599.csv New Brunswick * NB 1980 - 1999 * 35 NB_8099.csv Nova Scotia * NS 1980 - 1999 * 6 NS_8099.csv Other National Parks * NatPks 1950 - 1999 * 37 NatPks_5099.csv Fire-HAM • National Fire Occurrence Database • Contains 32 Fields – 14 Required; 18 Optional • Atlantic provinces and National Parks contain only LFDB records SFDB

IMPACTS Area Burned Social Economic Fire Occurrence Level of Protection Size, Pattern, Fire Effects, Carbon Emissions, Succession, Timber Supply Models Number of Fires, Fire Locations, Seasonality, Eco-region Patterns Human Health Loss of Property Cost / Benefit Analysis Suppression Locations, Suppression Effectiveness, Adaptation Strategies, Mitigation Practices TOOLS PROMETHEUS Fire Growth Model BURN-P3 Burn Probability CFFDRS FWI - FBP FOP Models LEOPARDS Level of Protection Protection Zones Landscape Fuel STRUCTURE ( Continuity, Loading, HFI, ROS, TFC ) Fire Weather FWI / FBP People FIRES Suppression Resources People Activity Patterns Values At Risk Towns, Parks, Roads FBP Fuel Types % Coverage Lightning FIRES Community Protection Recreation GCM / RCM Outputs ECOREGION Information Wildland Urban Interface Timber Supply Lightning Occurrence Patterns Ecosystem Values Other Industry Use Forest Fire and Climate Change HAZARD ASSESSMENTMap for CANADA FIRE-HAM

0 – 1 2 – 10 11 - 50 51 - 100 101 - 150 151 – 200 201 – 275 275 – 350 351 + Mean Annual Fire Occurrence All Causes January to December / 1981 to 1990

1 – 100 101 – 1,000 1,001 – 5,000 5,001 – 10,000 10,001 – 50,000 50,001 – 100,000 100,001 – 200,000 200,001 – 400,000 400,001 + Mean Annual Area Burned All Causes January to December 1981 - 2000 1981 - 1990 1991 - 2000

0 - 25 25 - 35 35 - 45 45 - 60 60 - 75 75 - 90 91 + Mean Annual 90th Percentile BUI May to August 1981 - 1990 Grid Map with Ecoregions Overlaid EcoRegion Map

Intensive Modified Extensive Outside Fire Protection Zones for Canada

Negligible Very Low Low Moderate Average Above Average High Very High Extreme Fire Hazard Assessment Map 1981 to 1990 ( Rule # 1 ) Rule # 1 HAM = Fire + AB + BUI + Prot where Prot : 1=Extensive,Modified,Outside; 2=Intensive

Next Steps • Data files to be created • FWI Statistical Files for 1991-2000 • Other files/maps ????? • Decisions to be made • Decadal periods to compare • Seasonal periods to compare • FWI/Weather maps to use • Questions • Do we include Ecoregion based FBP fuel types? • Do we include seasonal HFI maps? • Do we use grid format instead of ecoregion? • Rule Sets and Weights to be Defined

Fire Hazard Assessment Map for Canada Fire-HAM