Canada evacuates oil workers as wildfire spreads

The uncontrolled blaze has moved back
towards Fort McMurray PHOTO:
REUTERS
Oil workers in Canada’s western
province of Alberta have been ordered
to evacuate camps as a resurgent
wildfire heads towards them.
The emergency on Monday north of
the oil town of Fort McMurray has
forced firefighters to shift their focus to
protect major oil facilities.
The blaze, which continues to burn
uncontrolled, now covers 285,000
hectares (704,000 acres), officials said.
By Monday evening, it was moving at 30
to 40 metres a minute north of Fort
McMurray and had jumped a critical
firebreak to push into the oil sand
camp areas.
“The urgency we’re looking at is with
regards to the oil gas infrastructure,”
Executive Director of the Alberta
Emergency Management Agency, Scott
Long, told reporters in Edmonton,
adding that Fort McMurray itself
appeared to be safe for now.
Hundreds of workers in the camps
close to the flames were ordered to
move out while thousands more were
put on standby. There are 12 oil sands
camps in the area.
Chad Morrison, Alberta’s manager
of wildfire prevention, said the blaze
was expected to slow into the evening
and that it was unclear if it would reach
the major oil sand facilities, though
responders were preparing for that
eventuality.
“When you have this type of extreme
fire behaviour, it doesn’t matter what
tankers you put in front of it, or how
many helicopters, Mother Nature is
going to continue to move that fire
forward,” Morrison said.
Roughly a million barrels a day of oil
sands crude production was shut in as a
precaution and because of disruptions
to regional pipelines, and much of that
production remains offline.
Canadian Finance Minister, Bill
Morneau, told CBC News that the Fort
McMurray fire would be a challenge to
the economy, as well as a human
challenge, but he had no price tag yet
on how much the disaster would cost
the federal government.
About 80,000 people fled the area
nearly two weeks ago .The fire
destroyed more than 2,400 structures in
Fort McMurray and the thousands of
residents who were moved out
continue to live in temporary shelters.
Officials said there was still no timeline
on when residents could return.
The wildfire still covers more than
2,000 square kilometres and is expected
to burn for months.