In 2023 Social media users repeatedly claimed that arsonists set Canada’s record-breaking wildfires to dramatize the effects of climate change. change.
Some reactions to the 2024 Alberta wildfire map similarly claim that fires are only appeared in accessible areas because that is where bad actors shine. The August 12 post claims there are “no roads” in Wood Buffalo National Park, which reinforces the conspiracy theory.
But the Map shared on social media does not provide a complete record of all fires in the province – National team Parks are under the jurisdiction of the federal Parks Canada agency and may not appear in the fire tracking tool.
“We don’t put things on our dashboard without having allocated resources to do so,” said Melissa, Alberta’s wildfire information officer. Story on August 13. “So if we don’t have people on the ground fighting the Alberta Wildfire, then it’s not going to show up.”
Status of the wooden buffalo
Spanning With more than 4.5 million hectares of forest, wetland and prairie, Wood Buffalo is Canada’s largest national park, according to the UNESCO World Heritage Convention website (archived here).
Wood Buffalo has its own fire dashboard, which shows that there have been 26 wildfires in the park this year (archived here). Many Are There were still fires, and none of them were considered out of control in August. 14.
The park also reported wildfire activity on its Facebook page.
Local media reported that firefighters in Wood Buffalo are having to adapt some of their techniques due to the extreme drought in the region.
AFP has asked Parks Canada for comment but has not received a response.
No roads?
Claims that there are no roads in Wood Buffalo are also INCORRECT.
Parks Canada reports on the condition of various paved, gravel and dirt roads in the park (archived here).
While On Google Maps (archived here), no roads appear to run through the park in Alberta; Highway 5 crosses the Wood Buffalo section in the Northwest Territories (archived here).
Google Maps also shows the dependent community of Garden River about five kilometres (3.1 miles) inside the park boundary at the end of an extension of Highway 58 in Alberta (archived here and here).
Exceptions to mutual assistance
At the end of July 2024, a massive forest fire raged in Jasper National Park in southwestern Alberta, triggering the evacuation of thousands of people from the park and a nearby tourist town.
Unlike Wood Buffalo, the status of the fire in Jasper is displayed on the province’s dashboard because AlbRTA Wildfire provides support there.
“If you need help They usually reach at the local level, and we could go out and drop a helicopter tank on a fire or something like that,” Story said.
According to the Alberta Wildfire Status Dashboard, 44.6 percent of the province’s wildfires are expected to burn in the 2024 season caused by humans (archived here).
Story said that while investigations take time, the number of fires caused by arson is estimated to be around the five-year average of five percent.
You can find more AFP reports on disinformation in Canada here.
