Canadian officials showed some optimism for the first time on Sunday that they were beginning to get on top of the country’s most destructive wildfire in recent memory, as favourable weather helped firefighters and winds took the flames southeast, away from oil sands boomtown Fort McMurray.
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As for the scenario that the wildfire might possibly burn for months, Chad Morrison, Alberta’s manager of wildfire prevention, said that it wasn’t uncommon to fight “such an inferno in forested areas for months”.
Authorities had expressed fear the fire could spread east to Saskatchewan province. He said it allowed them to further protect fire-ravaged Fort McMurray.
During the tour, Fort McMurray Fire Chief Darby Allen told reporters on the bus that he estimates about 85 percent of structures, including houses and businesses, were still intact – and also said Fort McMurray’s downtown infrastructure remained intact. But Notley mentioned two evacuees who died in a traffic accident during the evacuation.
Federal Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale cautioned that a lot of work remains.
“These sites are very resilient to wildfires, largely because they’re free and clear of vegetation and trees”.
Some 1600 homes and other buildings have been lost but no deaths or injuries have been reported.
Officials said it was too early to put a timeline on getting people back into the town safely.
He said that in some areas, “You don’t even know there was a fire”.
Scenes of devastation have already trickled out from Fort McMurray: images of razed neighbourhoods, torched trucks, and swing sets with the wooden seats burned off, leaving only drooping chains.
More than 500 firefighters are battling the blaze with helicopters, air tankers and other heavy equipment.
Despite firefighters’ efforts, Morrison said the blaze in Alberta’s oil sands region will not go out until there is significant rain.
Ms Notley said: “We were really encouraged…to see the extent of residential communities that were saved”.
Oil sands companies, which have high fixed costs, are expected to work as quickly as possible to get production back online, but face the challenge of many staff and suppliers being displaced by the evacuation.
The Red Cross, which has been registering evacuees and fundraising, said it has raised 60 million Canadian dollars (about 46 million USA dollars) to date, with 51 million Canadian dollars (about 39 million dollars) of that coming from individual donors.
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It is some 25 km to 30 km from the Saskatchewan provincial border.
