With the wildfire in Alberta’s north still raging, cooler temperatures and a short rainfall provided much needed relief to crews on Sunday.
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Chad Morrison of Alberta Wildfire said it’s not uncommon to fight such an inferno in forested areas for months.
With cooler temperatures expected in the next three or four days, he said firefighters should be able to put out hot spots.
The fire chief of the Alberta municipality of Wood Buffalo, Darby Allen, sought to comfort displaced residents with a message on Twitter.
It was led by Alberta Premier Rachel Notley.
No deaths or injuries have been reported from the fire, but two people died in traffic accidents during the mass evacuation. Had they failed to stop it there, the fire would have destroyed the central business district, he said.
“We have experienced, trained staff on site and monitoring technology to protect the well-being of our people and assets”, he said.
Investigators are still trying to pinpoint the cause of the fires.
The premier said she’ll meet with energy industry leaders soon and will provide an update Tuesday on the wildfire’s impact on the oil sector.
Alberta’s oil sands have the third-largest reserves of oil in the world behind Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.
The massive wildfire that forced the evacuation of nearly 90,000 people in Alberta shows signs of slowing down, thanks to the hard work of firefighters and a turn in the weather. New satellite images showed the house she rents in Fort McMurray was still standing. Officers wore masks as they checked homes to make sure everyone was out.
Some good news, as of Sunday: Due to favorable winds, the fire was burning away from the city of Fort McMurray. About 2,400 homes and buildings were destroyed, but officials said firefighters saved 25,000 others in the city, including the hospital, municipal buildings and every functioning school.
There still is no timeline for residents to be allowed back into their homes, but the Alberta government has begun preliminary planning, though it stresses fighting the fire is still the first priority.
The last of 25 000 residents who’d fled north to oil patch work camps last week have now been relocated to areas south of the fire.
Steve Roberts, executive director of Saskatchewan wildfire management, said the fire that devastated Fort McMurray was 30 kilometres away and another large fire was 15 kilometres from crossing into the province on Monday. “We don’t want to distract from the important work right now”, Kate Purchase, a spokeswoman for Trudeau said.
On Saturday, officials expected the fire to increase to 200,000 hectares.
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. At the center, tables were piled with clothes, towels and other items.
More than 40 journalists were allowed into Fort McMurray on a bus escorted by police.
Evacuees from the Fort McMurray wildfires collect donated necessities at the evacuation centre in Lac la Biche, Alta., Thursday, May 5, 2016.
The fire remains west of the Saskatchewan border and Morrison said it hasn’t reached the Suncor or Syncrude oil sands facilities north of Fort McMurray and that the mines north are not under threat.
Some buildings burned down in Anzac south of Fort McMurray but firefighters have kept the rest of the community safe.
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The final stage of a massive evacuation by land and air is over.
