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Fort McMurray fire pushes into Sask.; no imminent danger to communities

Alberta senior wildlife manager Chad Morrison said the fire has burned the same amount of forest as all fires consumed in Alberta previous year.

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“We continue to make great progress”.

Fort McMurray families returning to Windsor to escape the devastation and destruction caused by the wild fires in northern Alberta can turn to Windsor Public Library for internet access and information, in addition to free materials and entertainment. Officials have said more than 2,400 buildings were lost but that firefighters managed to save nearly 90 per cent of the oilsands capital. It forced the evacuation of 8,000 oil sands workers, destroyed a work camp and prolonged a shutdown that has cut Canadian oil output by a million barrels a day.

Some of the 90,000 evacuees who fled Fort McMurray as the massive blaze breached the city may be allowed to return as soon as June 1, officials said Wednesday, if air quality improves and other safety conditions are met.

Municipal Affairs Minister Danielle Larivee said re-entry work was to continue.

Morrison said so far the blaze has burned the same amount of forest as all fires consumed in Alberta previous year. She said people returning should bring with them what they need, including medications and groceries.

Saskatchewan’s emergency management commissioner, Duane McKay, said no communities were under immediate threat.

It’s still about 30 kilometres away from La Loche, the nearest Saskatchewan community. Four people, including two teachers in the community’s high school, were killed.

The fire destroyed a 665-room lodge for oil sands workers on Tuesday, but officials on Thursday said there was no further threat to facilities. That includes areas already burned and now burning.

“La Loche is situated against a lake”.

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Premier Rachel Notley, according to the Global News, said, “We are making our decisions based on the best advice from the most informed and dedicated officials”.

Sergii Melnikov has been staying in his RV at Northlands in Edmonton since being forced from his home in Fort McMurray