EVACUATION AND RETURN TO FORT MCMURRAY

Nearly 90,000 people vacated northern Alberta’s largest settlement when a relentless wildfire lapped at Fort McMurray’s borders May 3. Many workers and surveyors trickled back in to restore order, only to be pushed out again when the wind shifted. Now, after nearly a month spent displaced, people will begin their return to the battered city on June 1. Here’s a timeline of how the events unfolded:

Sunday, May 1

Patrolling fire crews discover a two-hectare fire southwest of Fort McMurray and begin dousing it.

8 p.m. Sunday

The fire moves east. The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo tells people in Centennial Park Campground, west of Highway 63, to leave their trailers. The municipality warns residents in Beacon Hill and Gregoire to be prepared to leave on short notice. An evacuation centre opens on MacDonald Island in the centre of the city.

9:57 p.m. Sunday

Mayor Melissa Blake declares a local state of emergency in Gregoire and issues a mandatory evacuation order for at least 500 people in Centennial Park, the Prairie Creek area south of Airport Road, and Gregoire.

3 a.m. Monday

The mandatory evacuation order for Gregoire is lifted to a “shelter in place” order.

5:30 p.m. Monday

The mandatory evacuation order for Prairie Creek is lifted to a “shelter in place” order.

Noon Tuesday, May 3

Fort McMurray Fire Chief Darby Allen says the fire has crossed the Athabasca River toward the north part of town.

2 p.m. Tuesday

People living in Abasand, Grayling Terrace and Beacon Hill receive mandatory evacuation notices. Residents living south of Thickwood Boulevard between Real Martin Drive and Thicket Drive in the Ross Haven neighbourhood, west of the Athabasca River, are told to be ready to leave with 30 minutes notice.

3:10 p.m. Tuesday

The fire reaches the city. Mobile homes in Centennial Park and houses in Abasand begin to burn. Thickwood is under a mandatory evacuation notice.

4 p.m. Tuesday

The mandatory evacuation order grows to include Gregoire, Beacon Hill, Abasand, Waterways, Grayling Terrace, Draper, Saline Creek, downtown, Thickwood, Wood Buffalo, Dickinsfield and the lower townsite.

4:15 p.m. Tuesday The shelter in MacDonald Island Park is evacuated. 6:25 p.m. Tuesday All of Fort McMurray is put under a mandatory evacuation order. People leaving share pictures on social media of the Super 8 hotel and Denny’s restaurant near Beacon Hill, both ablaze. People flee to oilsands camps in the north and other communities in the south on Highway 63. 9 p.m. Tuesday Officials report significant fire damage in Beacon Hill, and “light” damage in Abasand, Dickinsfield, Wood Buffalo and Waterways. 11:30 p.m. Tuesday An evacuation centre opens at Edmonton’s Northlands Expo Centre. 4 a.m. Wednesday, May 4 The fire destroys homes in Beacon Hill, Waterways and Abasand. Wood Buffalo has some damage and 12 trailers burn in the Timberlea area. Two houses are destroyed in Dickinsfield and one each in Grayling Terrace, downtown, and Thickwood. 12:30 p.m. Wednesday Premier Rachel Notley says approximately 1,600 structures have burned. The regional municipality releases an updated damage assessment. Ninety per cent of the homes in Waterways are gone. Beacon Hill has lost 70 per cent of its houses. Half the houses in Abasand have burned. Four houses are destroyed and six more damaged in Grayling Terrace. Thirteen trailers are destroyed in Timberlea. About 30 houses are gone in Wood Buffalo. Two houses are obliterated in Dickinsfield, one downtown and one in Thickwood. 4:05 p.m. Wednesday The fire crosses the intersection of Highways 69 and 63, cutting off the main route in and out of the city to the south.

The municipality issues an evacuation order for Saprae Creek in Fort McMurray’s southeast tip. The region issues a boil water advisory. 5:30 p.m. Wednesday Fire burns 15 structures on Walnut Crescent in the Timberlea area. 7:15 p.m. Wednesday Three structures burn on Blackburn Drive in Parsons Creek. A Catholic school under construction is destroyed.

Ninety per cent of the homes in Waterways are gone. Beacon Hill has lost 70 per cent of its houses. Half the houses in Abasand have burned.