A massive wildfire has destroyed homes in several neighbourhoods in Fort McMurray, forcing 80,000 people out of the area in the largest fire evacuation in Alberta’s history.
A mandatory evacuation order is in place and officials say people should not try to return home at this time.
“Right now the number we are using is 80,000 people,” said Scott Long, Executive Director, Alberta Emergency Management Agency.
Officials say all the fires in the city are currently out, but they warn that the situation could worsen again with the hot and dry weather conditions.
“Firefighting staff have worked throughout the night, and all fires within the city have been extinguished,” said Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo Fire Chief Darby Allen. “There are still some hot spots in the wildland, and that mixed with the wildland fire outside the city is what we are worried about for the rest of the day.”
“This is a very complex fire with multiple fire fronts and explosive fire conditions and it’s challenging all of us,” Bernie Schmitte with Alberta Forestry said.
“We expect it to be a worse fire day than it was yesterday, the big issue with the winds being gusting west at 20 gusting at 30, with hot, dry conditions, firefighters will continue to be challenged all day,” said Chad Morrison, Sr. Manager with Wildfire. “We expect the fire behavior, similar to yesterday, to pick up at one o’clock this afternoon and challenge firefighters well into the evening.”
More than 250 firefighters are battling the fires along with ten helicopters and about 17 air tankers.
Several homes and businesses have already been destroyed and officials say 80 percent of the residences in the Beacon Hill area are gone.
“We have yet to come across the 20 percent that has not been lost. It is completely levelled,” said CTV Edmonton’s Breanna Karstens-Smith. “It’s just blocks and blocks of soot, basically.”
Julia Robson lives in the community and says there is not much left of her home.
“There’s nothing left essentially. I’m just grabbing a couple of things. I live with my roommate so she didn’t get home to get anything. I had packed my bag a couple days before. So I had the main things. Now we’re just salvaging,” she said. “There’s not really a whole lot we can do. We’re just going to head south and spend some time with family and see what happens there.”
Officials say the areas of Waterways and Abasand have also sustained “serious loss,” and houses and trailer homes have also been lost in Dickinsfield and the downtown.
The premier and emergency officials updated the situation at a news conference on Wednesday and said that the fire is about 7500 hectares in size.
“There’s been fairly significant destruction of residences in Fort McMurray, we’re looking at roughly 1600 structures at this point,” said Premier Notley.
Temperatures topped 30 degrees in Fort McMurray by Wednesday afternoon and forestry managers say it will be a huge challenge to keep the blazes burning around the city under control.
They say any change in wind direction could also cause the destruction to spread and fire crews from across the country have been called in to assist.
So far there have been no reports of deaths or injuries but thousands of people are now homeless and six evacuation centres have been opened up at several nearby towns and also in Edmonton.
“The majority of the evacuees have successfully been able to begin to make their way south or have successfully found places south of the city. Roughly, and this is a rough estimate, roughly 10,000 citizens moved north and we are advised that they have found places in most of the camps, north of the city,” said Premier Notley. “As things are now, they have adequate levels of food and supplies.”
She said that patients in the hospital were also evacuated and were moved to health care facilities in the province with assistance from WestJet.
Notley said Tuesday that the situation in Fort McMurray now rivals the Slave Lake catastrophe, where more than 500 homes and buildings were destroyed.
"In terms of fire, this is our biggest fire evacuation," she said. "This is bigger than Slave Lake."
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau offered his support on Wednesday and said all possible assistance would be available to those affected by the fires.
“We've been engaged obviously in the government operations center which is coordinating different levels of government and different government agencies to make sure that all the help that is needed is being delivered immediately and that involves different agencies from Canadian Forces to organizations like the Canadian Red Cross who is of course is very, very engaged in this.” said Trudeau. “We are responding in an ongoing fashion to the changing situation and to the needs that come up. We are in close and active communication with the government of Alberta and through the government operations centre with multiple stakeholders including firefighters across the country and we continue to be very alert to the ongoing crisis.”
Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan confirmed in a conference call earlier in the day that the federal government has received a formal request for assistance.
“This morning a memorandum of understanding was signed with the Department of National Defence outlining the levels of assistance that we will require. They have provided us with helicopters to assist with rescue for people that become isolated, outside of Fort McMurray, and who have difficulties getting to safety. They are also prepared to provide us with all of the airlift support that we require in order to bring in both materials and personnel to fight fires within the affected area,” said Notley.
“Great cooperation with the Government of Canada, we had a conversation this morning, and requests for federal assistance was signed,” said Long. “We also have commitments for air transport and we are also looking at any future requirements that may be required in coming days.”
Wood Buffalo Mayor Melissa Blake thanked crews working to fight the fires and called the situation a “Tragic time in our community.”
“Thank you, and that applies from A to B in this case,” Blake said in the teleconference. “I’m always thankful for the ground troops that are doing battle and taking care of business on the ground and trying to prevent the head of this multi-headed monster.”
The RCMP has deployed 300 of its members to Fort McMurray to help control access points and protect property in the affected areas.
A fuel tanker is making its way along Highway 63 to help stranded motorists and people are being asked to stay with their vehicles.
A boil water advisory has been issued for the entire region including camps and those residents who were evacuated are being told to keep their receipts for food, accomodations and related expenses for possible reimbursement from their insurance provider.
The premier says the government is matching donations to the Red Cross and $2 million in funding has been approved so far.
“We know Albertans are stepping up to help the people of Fort McMurray; that’s what Albertans do when people are in need. The most effective thing people can do right now is make donations to the Red Cross, knowing our government will match those funds,” said Notley.
Wood Buffalo officials issued a status update on the fire at 5:30 p.m. and say the fire is headed towards the airport and Saprae Creek. Saprae Creek residents have been told they must evacuate immediately.
The Red Cross has set up a call line for the public, for inquiries and to register call 1-888-350-6070.
To make a donation, call 1-800-418-111 or visit the website HERE.
Click HERE for up-to-the-minute emergency information & contact numbers.
Mental health support is also available by calling Alberta’s 24-hour Mental Health Help Line at 1-877-303-2642.
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(With files from CTV Edmonton and ctvnews.ca)
