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Devasting Fort Mac blaze account earns B.C. author top UK writing prize

John VaillantBԪַs BԪַFire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter WorldBԪַ wins Baillie Gifford nonfiction prize
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FILE - A wildfire burns south of Fort McMurray, Alberta, near Highway 63 on Saturday, May 7, 2016. A book about an inferno that ravaged a Canadian city and has been called a portent of climate chaos has won BritainBԪַs leading nonfiction book prize. John ValliantBԪַs BԪַFire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter WorldBԪַ was awarded the 50,000 pound ($62,000) Baillie Gifford Prize at a ceremony in London on Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023. (Jonathan Hayward /The Canadian Press via AP, File)

A book about a fire that ravaged a Canadian city and has been called a portent of climate chaos won BritainBԪַs leading nonfiction book prize on Thursday.

John VaillantBԪַs BԪַFire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter WorldBԪַ was awarded the 50,000 pound ($62,000) Baillie Gifford Prize at a ceremony in London.

The chair of the judging panel, Frederick Studemann, said the book tells BԪַa terrifying story,BԪַ reading BԪַalmost like a thrillerBԪַ with a BԪַdeep science backdrop.BԪַ

He called BԪַFire Weather,BԪַ which was also a U.S. National Book Award finalist, BԪַan extraordinary and elegantly rendered account of a terrifying climate disaster that engulfed a community and industry, underscoring our toxic relationship with fossil fuels.BԪַ

Vaillant, based in British Columbia, recounts how a engulfed the oil city of Fort McMurray in 2016. The blaze, which burned for months, drove 90,000 people from their homes, destroyed 2,400 buildings and disrupted work at AlbertaBԪַs lucrative .

Vaillant said the lesson he took from the inferno was that BԪַfire is different now, and weBԪַve made it differentBԪַ through human-driven climate change.

He said the day the fire broke out in early May, it was 33 Celsius (91.4 Fahrenheit) in Fort McMurray, which is about 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) south of the Arctic Circle. Humidity was a bone-dry 11%.

BԪַYou have to go to Death Valley in July to get 11% humidity,BԪַ Vaillant told The Associated Press. BԪַNow transpose those conditions to the boreal forest, which is already flammable. To a petroleum town, which is basically built from petroleum products -BԪַ from the vinyl siding to the tar shingles to the rubber tires to the gas grills. BԪַ So those houses burned like a refinery.BԪַ

Vaillant said the fire produced radiant heat of 500 Celsius BԪַ BԪַhotter than Venus.BԪַ

Canada has experienced many devastating fires since 2016. The country endured its worst wildfire season on record this year, with blazes destroying huge swaths of northern forest and blanketing much of Canada and the U.S. in haze.

BԪַThat has grave implications for our future,BԪַ Vaillant said. BԪַCanadians are forest people, and the forest is starting to mean something different now. Summer is starting to mean something different now. ThatBԪַs profound, ItBԪַs like a sci-fi story -BԪַ when summer became an enemy.BԪַ

Founded in 1999, the prize recognizes English-language books from any country in current affairs, history, politics, science, sport, travel, biography, autobiography and the arts. It has been credited with bringing an eclectic slate of fact-based books to a wider audience.

Vaillant beat including best-selling American author David GrannBԪַs seafaring yarn BԪַThe WagerBԪַ and physician-writer Siddhartha MukherjeeBԪַs BԪַThe Song of the Cell.BԪַ

Sponsor Baillie Gifford, an investment firm, has faced protests from environmental groups over its investments in fossil fuel businesses. , Katherine Rundell, gave her prize money for BԪַSuper-Infinite: The Transformations of John DonneBԪַ to a conservation charity.

The judges said neither the sponsor nor criticism of it influenced their deliberations.

Historian Ruth Scurr, who was on the panel, said she did not feel BԪַcompromisedBԪַ as a judge of the prize.

BԪַI have no qualms at all about being an independent judge on a book prize, and I am personally thrilled that the winner is going to draw attention to this subject,BԪַ she said.

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