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The Impact of Wildland and Structure Fire Smoke on Ambient Pollution Levels in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada
Citation:
Landis, M., E. Edgerton, AND A. Sullivan. The Impact of Wildland and Structure Fire Smoke on Ambient Pollution Levels in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. 2nd International Smoke Symposium, Long Beach, CA, November 14 - 17, 2016.
Impact/Purpose:
This will be an oral presentation
Description:
An unprecedented wildfire impacted the northern Alberta city of Fort McMurray in May 2016 causing a mandatory evacuation of all residents and resulted in the loss of over 2,400 homes and businesses. An estimated two hectare wildfire was first discovered on May 1 by a fire patrol and despite an immediate response quickly crossed the Athabasca River, burned through the northern portion of town, grew to ~157,000 hectares over the next four days, and continues to burn with an estimated size of ~589,600 hectares by June 13. A community air monitoring network operated by the Wood Buffalo Environmental Association (WBEA) in and around Fort McMurray recorded 210 exceedances of 1-hour and 24-hour Alberta Ambient Air Quality Objectives (AAAQOs) for PM2.5, H2S, O3, NO2, and CO in May. The two WBEA air monitoring sites closest to Fort McMurray, AMS-6 (39 exceedances) and AMS-7 (65 exceedances), recorded 5-minute PM2.5 concentrations of 167 ± 550 g m-3 (mean ± standard deviation) and 186 ± 437 g m-3, respectively for the month of May. The maximum observed 5-minute PM2.5 concentrations at the sites were 7,212 g m-3 (AMS-6) and 3,362 g m-3 (AMS-7). Filter-based daily integrated PM2.5 samples collected every 6 days showed maximum concentrations of 267 g m-3 at AMS-6 and 394 g m-3 at AMS-7. High correlations between biomass combustion related gaseous emissions (e.g., CO, NMHC, TRS, NH3) and PM2.5 (r2=0.86–0.96) were observed at both sites. Filter-based PM2.5 and PM10 samples are being analyzed for inorganic constituents including trace elements, major ions, OC, EC, carbohydrates, and carbon functional groups. High O3 concentrations at night > 300 ppb and positive correlation with NO, suggests that photometric O3 instruments suffered from positive interference during the fire event. The impact of wildland fire smoke emissions to the observed Fort McMurray community monitoring sites, the resulting Canadian Air Quality Health Index (AQHI) values, and the reentry plan for residents will be presented and discussed.