Canadian Wildland Fire Information System

CWFIS Datamart

Metadata

Title:

Canadian Large Fire Database (LFDB)

Geospatial Data Presentation Form:

vector digital data - shapefile (.shp)

Citation information:

When using these data for mapping activities and analysis, research, evaluation or display, please acknowledged the source using the following citation:

Canadian Forest Service. 2010. Canadian Large Fire Database. Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Northern Forestry Centre, Edmonton, Alberta. http://cwfis.cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/en_CA/nfdb.

Abstract:

The Large Fire Database (LFDB) is a collection of forest fire locations as provided by Canadian fire management agencies including provinces, territories, and Parks Canada. The data set includes only fires greater than 200 hectares in final size for years 1959 through 1999. This version was released in May 2002, and a detailed analysis was published by Stocks et al. in 2002. The LFDB is no longer maintained, but it has been replaced by the National Fire Database.

Purpose:

The forest fire data collected in the CNFDB are useful for a wide range of national scale mapping, analysis and research.

Supplimental Information:

The CNFDB fire point and polygon data are collected from Canadian fire management agencies including provinces, territories, and Parks Canada. To create the Canada-wide product, the data collected from each agency are projected into a common format and combined with data from other agencies; attribute fields are standardized; agency specific attribute fields are removed; and polygon areas are calculated using GIS.

Note that the data contained in the CNFDB are not complete nor are they without error. Locations are approximate. Not all fires have been mapped, and data accuracy varies due to different mapping techniques. This collection includes only data that has been contributed by the agencies. Data completeness and quality vary among agencies and between years.

For analyses for a single province or territory or for Parks Canada, we suggest you contact the appropriate agency. Links to the agency web sites can be found at http://fire.cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/links-liens-eng.php, or can be found through the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC) website at http://www.ciffc.ca

The database is a large collaborative effort by all Canadian fire agencies. We thank the many individuals who contributed to this effort, including fire crews, field personnel, photo interpreters, pilots, digitizers, and analysts. Compilation of the Canada-wide database was partially supported by the Canadian government programs of ENFOR (ENergy from the FORest), the Program on Energy Research and Development, the Climate Change Action Fund, and Action Plan 2000.

Publications:

The following papers present analyses of this database. We encourage users to read these before attempting further analyses.

Burton, P.J.; Parisien, M.-A.; Hicke, J.A.; Hall, R.J.; Freeburn, J.T. 2008. Large fires as agents of ecological diversity in the North American boreal forest. International Journal of Wildland Fire 17(6): 754-767.

Parisien, M.A.; Peters, V.S; Wang, Y.; Little, J.M.; Bosch, E.M.; Stocks, B.J. 2006. Spatial patterns of forest fires in Canada 1980-1999. International Journal of Wildland Fire 15:361-374.

Stocks, B.J.; Mason, J.A.; Todd, J.B.; Bosch, E.M.; Wotton, B.M.; Amiro, B.D.; Flannigan, M.D.;Hirsch, K.G.; Logan, K.A.; Martell, D.L.; Skinner, W.R. 2003. Large forest fires in Canada, 1959-1997. Journal of Geophysical Research 108, D1: FFR5, 1-12. doi:10.1029/2001 JD000484

Amiro, B.D.; Todd, J.B.; Wotton, B.M.; Logan, K.A.; Flannigan, M.D.; Stocks, B.J.; Mason, J.A.; Martell, D.L.; Hirsch, K.G. 2001. Direct carbon emissions from Canadian forest fires, 1959 to 1999. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 31:512-525.

Maintenance and Update Frequency:

The LFDB is no longer maintained, but it has been replaced by the National Fire Database - Updated annually

Access Constraints:

Please note that an End-User Agreement is required for accessing these data. Please refer to this agreement for information regarding restrictions of use -- http://cwfis.cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/common/cwfis/End_User_Agreement_EN.html

Use Constraints:

The Data shall only be used for mapping activities and analysis, research, evaluation and display. The End-User agrees not to misrepresent or falsely modify the Data in any way. When the Data is displayed, in print, electronically, or otherwise, the source (i.e., Natural Resources Canada) must be acknowledged.

For additional information, please see the metadata included with the data itself.