Massive wildfire still growing
Fort McMurray residents warned they won’t be returning to homes any time soon
FORT MCMURRAY, ALTA. — There still is no timeline for residents to return to Fort McMurray, but the Alberta government has begun preliminary plans for people to get back to their homes as a massive wildfire continued to grow and remained a threat to the city.
Alberta Premier Rachel Notley said officials expected the fire to possibly double in size on Saturday and reach the boundary with Saskatchewan to the east.
The government said the area damaged by fire or still burning had grown to 1,560 square kilometres.
Notley said the fire was burning away from communities on Saturday, but weather conditions made fighting the fire more difficult.
Officials have stressed the wildfire that forced 80,000 people from their homes remained out of control and was likely to burn for weeks.
Firefighters continued working to protect the downtown and homes in Fort McMurray and held the line for a second straight day, Notley said.
She added the gas supply has been turned off in the city and the pow- er grid has been damaged. Water in the city isn’t drinkable and hazardous material will have to be cleaned up to make the community safe.
“The return won’t be in coming days,” said the premier. “Once the immediate fire damage is completed there will be an enormous amount of work to do to make the city safe and habitable.
“We are working to get people safe, then to make the city safe and to work out a plan for return. Then to assure the community functions on the same level that it always has. And then to get that community rebuilt.”
By early next week the province hopes to release details of a transitional housing plan for evacuees, said Notley.
The government has had talks with universities and community colleges in Calgary and Edmonton, and some property management companies have offered three months’ free rent, she said.
Syncrude oil facilities in northern Alberta were evacuated Saturday as the company decided to move its employees as a precaution. Scott Long of the Alberta Emergency Management Agency said a Suncor facility was evacuated on Friday.
No new figures were released Saturday on the number of structures that have been damaged in Fort McMurray. Earlier this week the government said 1,600 buildings were destroyed.
Chad Morrison with Alberta Wildfires said damage to buildings in the community of Anzac was not as great as first feared. Twelve structures were damaged, said Morrison, six fewer than originally reported.
“The good news is, it continues to move away from the community and oilsands facilities,” he said.
The weather could also improve in the coming days with cooler temperatures and a chance of showers in parts of the province, which could free resources to help in Fort McMurray, he added.
Federal Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said firefighters from other provinces were being brought in to relieve those who have been battling what he calls “this beast of a fire” for a week.
“What we’re trying to do, with the co-operation of other provinces and territories, is bring in rotations of other firefighters that can give them a break.”
Goodale also said the convoy moving people who have been taking shelter at oilsands work camps north of Fort McMurray took about 7,500 people through the city to the south on Friday.
Notley said the province expected all evacuees who were north of Fort McMurray to be moved south of the fire by the end of the day Saturday.
Officers have been finding people in Fort McMurray who did not comply with the mandatory evacuation order during door-to-door searches.
One was an elderly man who was found in his home, with his dog. Patrols also came across a family of five, including three young children, who didn’t leave because they didn’t think they were in danger.