Economic Impact of Alberta Wildland Fires

Generally when we think about the economic impact of disasters, our minds conjure up scenes of devastation from flooding or tornadoes. There have been plenty of those in the news lately with recurring rain storms dumping a foot of water or more in concentrated blasts, swelling streams and rivers.

However, I saw a news item that said the economic impact in the province of Alberta from the oil sand production being halted was $1M a day. This is of course only one small part of the Canadian dollar impact to the communities in that region, but they were already suffering from an economic downturn due to low oil prices.

We've had two record fire seasons here in Eastern Washington. Some of those fires have destroyed communications infrastructures and other business interests. The scenes of homes and entire neighborhoods destroyed is also a sobering reminder of the financial and emotional impact of disasters, including wildland fires.