At a press conference on Monday, Alberta premier Rachel Notley said that on a scale of one to 10 that the province usually uses to measure the quality of air – 10 being the worst – Fort Mac read 38 that morning.
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She also said the fire is moving north and crossed Tower Road, prompting mandatory evacuation orders for several small camps on Aostra Road.
Work camps north of Fort McMurray are being ordered to evacuate because wildfires around the city are expanding. Some pipelines in and out of the terminal are operating.
“By and large, I believe the fire has not encroached too much more upon Suncor or Syncrude, but the reason why the call was made tonight is so they’re not starting an evacuation at 2 a.m.”, he explained.
Officials said earlier today that the air quality in the area was at unsafe levels.
Notley said the government is committed to following through on the recommendations that came out of the Slave Lake fire, which included the development of quick-response firefighting specialists, increased fire bans and forest area closures and more work on fire prevention through its Firesmart program.
The entire population of Fort McMurray, about 90,000 people, was forced to flee the Canadian city almost two weeks ago as the uncontrolled wildfire raged through some neighborhoods and destroyed about 15 percent of structures.
Alberta Premier Rachel Notley says the air quality in sooty, hazy, fire-damaged Fort McMurray is at risky levels, and is hampering efforts to get residents back to their homes.
“This has delayed the re-entry of additional response personnel as well as vehicle retrieval efforts”, Notley said.
Since the blaze started, the province of Alberta stated more than 1,500 firefighters, 120 helicopters, and 28 air tankers were being used to battle 25 different wildfires across the province. But this remains an active fire zone, with significant air-quality concerns that may delay recovery work and a return to the community. A company spokesman said on Monday he had no further updates.
Enbridge said in a May 13 update on its website that the Cheecham Terminal was staffed and conduits that connect to it, including lines 18 and 19, were put into service.
Canadian Finance Minister Bill Morneau told CBC News that the cost of the disaster was still being evaluated.
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“We have not been able to keep up to current demands, prior to this crisis, prior to the economic downturn.” he says, adding that the burden has only grown since.
