Williams said getting production back up will depend on each company and facility.
Advertisement
But it also moved far enough away from the evacuated town to allow an official delegation to visit on Monday. Officials previously warned that the fire could burn for months.
Alberta’s government estimated yesterday that the fire had consumed 161,000 hectares (395,000 acres).
Provincial authorities said the fire conditions remain extreme and the Fort McMurray wildfire, which encompasses more than 750 square miles, is expected to grow Tuesday as it makes its way toward the provincial border with Saskatchewan.
Oil prices jumped nearly 2 percent in trading early on Monday, as Canada’s fire contributed to tightening supply.
What can only be described as one of the biggest and the costliest natural disasters of Canada’s recorded – the wildfires of Canada is a travesty that the country is dreading to the core.
One official said: “With a little help from mother nature” they had stopped the blaze growing at the rate they thought it would. It was the first reported damage to an energy industry asset since the fire began.
Minister of Public Safety Ralph Goodale urged evacuees to be patient.
Most of the 100,000 evacuees have found temporary shelter with friends or family, but the government is working furiously to provide accommodations for the others.
Syncrude oil sands project said it would shut down its northern Alberta operation and remove all personnel from the site due to smoke.
“You might be seeing images today of the area you live and indeed you might be seeing images of where your home was”, he said.
“People are exhausted, they’re frustrated, they feel helpless, and sometimes they just lash out”, said security guard Mustafa Abraham.
Had they failed to stop it there, the fire would have destroyed the central business district. Large areas of town have no power, water, and gas, he said. City officials and residents are hoping the weather will continue to cooperate. Its workers largely live in Fort McMurray. “It’s really stressful, but I know we’ll get through it”, said Mackay. That being said, over 80,000 residents are still displaced, along with their pets.
The city’s gas system has also been turned off, Reuters said.
“People will return because of the high salaries and benefits”, he said.
Altogether 43 fires are burning across Alberta’s forests, seven of them still out of control, including the wildfire dubbed as the “beast”.
Advertisement
Across the province, more than 1,400 firefighters, about 133 helicopters, 200 pieces of heavy equipment and more than 27 air tankers are battling 43 separate blazes.
