The firefighters are part of a contingent of 1,000 firefighters coming to Alberta from across Canada, the United States and South Africa to help battle the wildfire near Fort McMurray.
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Close to 300 South African firefighters arrived in Edmonton Sunday night aboard an Air Canada flight from Johannesburg.
Edmonton International Airport officials said the Boeing 777, carrying members of the Volunteer Wildfire Services from Western Cape, South Africa, is a rare site at EIA due to its massive size. It has grown to cover 5,800 square kilometres, and has crept into Saskatchewan.
The province says a phased re-entry of residents into Fort McMurray is still on track to begin on Wednesday.
Nearly 2,300 firefighters are battling 14 active wildfires in Alberta.
The start-up of Suncor’s base plant and MacKay River sites is under way, with “initial production” expected by the end of the week, the company said in a statement, which noted initial production at its Firebag site began early last week. Alberta Health Services approved lodges for occupation on Friday.
It also said Syncrude was planning its own return to operations.
“We had 31 fire departments from Alberta alone involved in Fort McMurray and they’d go in for seven or eight days”, said Bill Purdy, the AFCA’s executive director.
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Up-to-date wildfire information can be found online.
