Focus shifts to recovery in Fort McMurray

As crews snuff hot spots, restoring utilities, hospital are key goals, minister says

EDMONTON— Crews continue to snuff out flare-ups and seek out hot spots in Fort McMurray while inspectors assess damage to homes and businesses.

Municipal Affairs Minister Danielle Larivee says focus in the northern Alberta community is shifting to stabilization and recovery. Key goals are making sure the fire is completely out in the city, restoring utilities and ensuring the hospital is functional.

That’s especially important in an isolated region like Fort McMurray, where the next nearest hospital is hours away, she told a briefing in Edmonton on Thursday.

Larivee expects it will take five days to assess all structures in the city, but emphasized there is still no fixed date for a return.

“We know that this is not what Fort McMurray and area residents want to hear, but this is what we need to do to ensure safety,” she said. “The good news is that there are a lot of people already working in the community to make it safe,” she continued.

“Power and data service has been restored to the downtown area. We have damage assessment teams on site and they inspected 520 structures yesterday from the outside . . . so we are beginning to develop a clearer picture.”

The briefing heard that 2,432 structures were destroyed, 530 damaged and 25,000 saved.

The military is pulling out, but Brig.-Gen. Wayne Eyre, commander of Joint Task Force West, said personnel will remain on high alert throughout the summer.

Fire official Chad Morrison said cooler weather has helped crews battle the blaze, which has grown to more than 2,400 square kilometres, but infrared scanners show there are still hot spots outside the city.

“We have had a bit of a break here . . . but we are going to see more hot, dry weather starting Saturday,” he said.

“The good news with that is we will continue to see some southwest winds that will push the fire away from the community into the remote forested areas.

“That being said, we are long from over in this fight,” Morrison added.

More than 850 firefighters supported by 33 helicopters, 13 air tankers and 93 pieces of heavy equipment were on the job Thursday.

Scott Long of Alberta Emergency Management reiterated the importance of preparing the city’s hospital to reopen.

“The primary focus is the emergency department, diagnostic imagery and laboratory services as well as the HVAC system,” Long said.

“There was some water and smoke damage. As you can well imagine, one of the most sterile places that we have to have is the hospital, so there is a lot of work to get that done.”

Cleaning up Fort McMurray’s wildfire will test the city’s ability to handle everything from asbestos to rotting food and leave a lasting legacy of higher costs and dangerous residue.

So says Tom Moore, and he should know. Moore manages the landfill at Slave Lake, where one-third of the town was gutted by a fire five years ago this month.

“It overwhelms you,” Moore recalled Thursday. “I received, in about four months’ time, about three years of waste into my facility.”

Moore said the landfill took in about 40,000 tonnes of waste after the fire destroyed more than 400 buildings. Meanwhile, the CBC reported Thursday that one of its videographers was injured after the man’s vehicle crashed near Lac La Biche.

RCMP said the news vehicle had been going east on Hwy. 55 when it went off the road and landed in a ditch. The driver was the only person in the vehicle and he was airlifted to an Edmonton hospital, where he is in critical condition.

Lac La Biche is a northern Alberta community housing some of the Fort McMurray fire evacuees, as well as media covering the wildfire.