A crew works to cut trees and make fire barriers for the wildfires in Drayton Valley, Alta. on May 17.JASON FRANSON/The Canadian Press
At least one firefighter has suffered serious injuries while battling wildfires in Northern and Central Alberta, which are expected to grow as rising temperatures and dry conditions persist into the long weekend.
A wildland firefighter from the East Prairie Métis Settlement in Northern Alberta, who lost his own home to a blaze, is in a coma in an Edmonton hospital after being struck by a falling tree. His family has identified him as Frankie Payou, a 33-year-old father of three.
Mr. Payou was cutting down a burned tree last Sunday when it broke and fell on his head and shoulders leaving him unconscious, according to a fundraising page set up by his family. He was airlifted to Edmonton, about 380 kilometres south of the Métis community, where he is receiving care for severe injuries including broken ribs, damage to his liver and kidneys and bleeding in his brain.
Christie Tucker, a spokesperson for Alberta Wildfire, said during a press conference on Wednesday that this is the only injury of which they are currently aware. She did not name Mr. Payou and declined to provide details of the accident.
“This is a reminder to all of us about the challenges faced by firefighters and the risks involved with wildfire. While some evacuated Albertans have begun going home, we all need to remember that this situation is volatile,” she said.
“Winds have weakened today across most of the province and temperatures are near normal for this time of year, but things will start to change tomorrow. It will get hotter and drier as we head to the weekend and, as we’ve seen, that can lead to more active wildfire behaviour.”
There were 92 wildfires active in Alberta on Wednesday, with 27 considered out of control. Firefighters have responded to nearly 500 wildfires so far this year, burning more than 728,000 hectares. Nearly 12,000 people are still under evacuation orders. Hundreds of kilometres south of the worst fires, smoke continues to blanket Calgary and surrounding communities, and health officials are advising people to stay indoors because of extremely poor air quality.
The wildfires also continue to affect oil and gas production, with companies forced to curtail the production of at least 240,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd).
But Rystad Energy, a research firm, said the true impact is likely even higher, in excess of 300,000 boepd. It warns that the emergency could hit Alberta’s oil sands, adding yet another risk to Western Canadian supply, with 2.7 million barrels per day of production in “very high” or “extreme” wildfire danger rating zones.
Thomas Liles, Rystad’s vice-president of upstream research, said in a market update Wednesday that assets in the Montney and Duvernay gas plays have been hit particularly hard, with operators forced to shut-in production after a brief rain-related respite last week.
Although relief from fires in areas including Grande Prairie and Peace River have allowed some operators to increase production after temporary shutdowns, the situation remains unstable.
“The biggest unknowns at this point centre around five operators – Cenovus Energy, Whitecap Resources, NuVusta Energy, CNRL, and Tourmaline Oil,” Mr. Liles said.
A large swath of Alberta’s most productive shale plays – including the Montney, Duvernay, Spirit River, Clearwater and Cardium – remain under “extreme” or “very high” wildfire threat, he added.
Mr. Liles pointed to real-time data on TC Energy’s Nova Gas Transmission Line, which implies an impact of 295,000 boepd on natural gas alone. The line connects most of the natural gas production in Western Canada to domestic and export markets.
The situation has deteriorated in neighbouring British Columbia, as well.
“Although no curtailments have yet been communicated, essentially all of the province’s 1.2 million boepd in Montney production is located in ‘extreme’ wildfire danger areas.”