Evacuees who fled a wildfire in northern Alberta two weeks ago will learned on Wednesday (May 18) they may be allowed to return home in coming weeks, as the blaze continued to shutter oil production north of Fort McMurray.
More than 90,000 evacuated from Fort McMurray and the surrounding area on May 3 and 4 as a huge wildfire hit the city in the heart of Canada’s oil sands region, destroying entire neighborhoods.
Premier Rachel Notley announced a “conditional timeline” for residents’ return.
“I can tell you today that if the five re-entry conditions are met, we anticipate that residents, on a voluntary and phased basis, will be allowed to begin to return to Fort McMurray beginning Wednesday June 1st, with the return completed by Wednesday June 15th, which will coincide with the hospital returning, we believe, to full operations,” Notley said at a news conference in Edmonton.
The fire was largely under control in the city by last Wednesday (May 11), but authorities warned residents that it would not be safe to return until electricity, gas and other key services were restored.
The fire was still burning around Fort McMurray on Wednesday, with dry, windy weather expected to push it east, in the direction of Suncor and Syncrude facilities, prolonging a shutdown that has cut Canadian oil output by a million barrels a day.
“The fire has burned around some of the vegetation areas around the oil sands facilities, as expected. And then today we expect lighter, lighter winds and continued humidity to rise as we start to see some potential, you know, potential for rain or at least cooler weather in the next couple days, which will be a real bonus for us,” Alberta Fire manager Chad Morrison said.
On Tuesday (May 17) the fire destroyed a 665-room lodge for oil sands workers, then blazed eastward toward other camps.
The fire has grown to 423,000 hectares (1.04 million acres), Notley said, as it “continues to burn out of control”.
No communities were in the fire’s immediate path.
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