A burned bicycle lays on the ground in a residential neighborhood of Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada on May 7, 2016.
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Officials said the fire could burn to the edge of a project operated by Suncor Energy Inc, but noted the site was highly resilient to fire damage. Meanwhile, a huge evacuation of residents displaced by the blaze came to an end.
Two fires have been approaching the border, the closest about 22km away, officials told CBC.
Officials now expect the fire to continue being pushed off to the northeast, away from threatened (human) communities and into the wilderness forests.
Morrison said with cooler temperatures in the next three or four days, firefighters should be able to put out hot spots.
Syncrude and Suncor facilities north of Fort McMurray were evacuated but Morrison said the fire did not reach them.
The massive fire, now being called “The Beast” by numerous 500 firefighters battling it, is also expected to reach the Suncor oil fields 30 kilometers north of the city, though officials believe the facility will be resistant to the fire because oil sands mines are typically cleared of the vegetation that a wildfire would need for fuel, and because the facility has two accomplished industrial fire departments on site.
Firefighters said the wildfire doubled in size on Saturday to around 494,000 acres – bigger than all of Greater London.
Notley was scheduled to visit Fort McMurray on Monday.
“In no way is this fire under control”, Notley said, adding that the evacuation of northern work camps, where many Fort McMurray residents have fled, was planned to be completed by Sunday.
The weather system is expected to move into the region part way through Sunday, bringing cooler temperatures and a chance of rain that could help control the blaze, officials told CTV’s Jill Macyshon.
“This remains a big, out-of-control, risky fire”, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said.
Around 25,000 residents who initially went north found themselves cut off in overcrowded conditions. Police and military oversaw a procession of thousands of vehicles Friday and Saturday, and a mass airlift of thousands of evacuees was also employed from the oil sands camps.
Smoke was also reported in the US, as far south as Iowa.
Thousands are still stuck north of the city and their evacuation will now not be completed before Sunday. Her voiced cracked when talking about the two and noted it is Mother’s Day. Fifteen-year-old Emily Ryan and her stepmother’s nephew, Aaron Hodgson, died in the accident. The evacuees passed through the town majority called home, much of it is simply burned to the ground.
New photos offer a haunting look at the aftermath of the destructive Fort McMurray wildfire in Canada that has forced more than 80,000 people from their homes. But the city’s power grid has been damaged and the water is undrinkable, Notley said.
The Alberta government also has plans to help evacuees with other needs, such as medical prescriptions and schooling for children.
As much as a quarter of the country’s oil production has been halted by the fire, raising concerns about the effect on the Canadian economy.
Safety minister Ralph Goodale warned that the situation in the parched Alberta oil sands region was “unpredictable and dangerous”. Its workers largely live in Fort McMurray where some neighbourhoods have been destroyed.
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Just over 30 kilometers (18 miles) south of Fort McMurray, the main highway into town is blocked off by barricades and police vehicles.
