Police calls indicate life is returning to normal
FORT MCMURRAY The wildfire that forced the evacuation of nearly 90,000 people and destroyed thousands of structures in and near Fort McMurray was likely caused by humans, RCMP said Tuesday.
Investigators are asking for public tips about what may have sparked the blaze that was first spotted by forestry officials on May 1, about 15 kilometres southwest of Fort McMurray. Lightning has been ruled out as a probable cause.
Mounties are hoping to speak with anyone who may have been in the Horse River trail system area between April 29 and May 5, as these people could have information that would assist the investigation.
RCMP said they are working alongside provincial wildfire officials to investigate the fire. The RCMP’s role is to determine whether criminal charges will be laid.
As the investigation into the cause of the devastating wildfire continues, local RCMP have been adjusting to life after the fire.
Wood Buffalo RCMP Cpl. George Cameron said Tuesday local detachment members returned to Fort McMurray about two weeks ago, after taking a mandated break.
During the evacuation and the days that followed, Cameron said local officers worked nearly nonstop, catching a few hours of sleep in their cruisers. In Cameron’s case, he slept in a jail cell because there was nowhere else to go.
After taking a two-week break to recover, Cameron said when he and his fellow officers first returned ahead of the public re-entry, things were “very eerie.”
“Our members were doing constant rolling patrols of neighbourhoods and stuff, and it was like something out of The Walking Dead ... like on a Friday afternoon, there’s not a car on the streets.” Cameron said, speaking at the Timberlea RCMP detachment.
As waves of residents began making their way home, Cameron said calls to police to report run-of-the-mill crime has been a strange kind of comfort.
“It’s nice to see, in a way ... just the normal calls that we’d been answering before the fires,” Cameron said. “That’s an indication to me that people are starting to get back in their old routine.”
Still, a number of the calls to police have been returning residents reporting that their home has been broken into. Cameron said that while some of these incidents are still being investigated, most often homes were entered by firefighters checking for occupants or emergency responders looking for pets.
He said police have also got some reports of fraudsters trying to capitalize on returning residents. Police are still trying to substantiate those claims.
Beyond that, Cameron said there’s been a bit of extra work to do at the behest of the emergency operations centre because the provincial state of emergency remains in effect. A handful of remaining RCMP officers from other jurisdictions are helping staff checkpoints at neighbourhoods with significant damage.
The municipality is also crawling with private security guards, who are stationed around cordoned-off burned structures and neighbourhoods. The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo confirmed Tuesday that four security firms have been hired — G4S, Garda, Great Plains Security and Taws Security — but said that due to security concerns, the number of staff cannot be disclosed.